


Affection-less

by Simply_A_Cherry_Bomb



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hyuck just wants some love, M/M, mark obviously is whipped for jungwoo, not really that angsty but it's there, the dreamies are too perfect to be real, the hyungs need to fix up big time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-07-08 05:37:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 29,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19864378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simply_A_Cherry_Bomb/pseuds/Simply_A_Cherry_Bomb
Summary: donghyuck wanted affectionbut when he didn't get anyhe stopped giving it to others





	1. introduction

Donghyuck stared at Jungwoo, as he pinched Mark's cheek. Whenever he did that to Mark, he'd always push him away and groan. Donghyuck closed his eyes and sighed. He wanted to get some affection back as well. Why didn't the other members ever initiate anything?

And so he asked their manager.

"That's because they know they're going to get love from you anyways" The manager had replied. Donghyuck remembered his words and kept thinking about it all night.

He was laying in his bed, and it was around 3am, when he made his decision. From now on, he was not going to show any affection towards the members.

Maybe this way they would try instead of him.


	2. 1. dreamies love Hyuck, wbk

"Donghyuck, wake up." The voice echoed in Donghyucks head, and he slowly turned in his sleep. He opened one of his eyes and saw a purple haired Jaehyun. His eyes then moved to the clock behind Jaehyun, and the time was 7am.

"I'm up" He said, sitting up in the bed and stretching. Jaehyun nodded and then left the room. Donghyuck watched him leave and then sighed. Today was the day Donghyuck started his affection less journey. It was going to be hard.

Donghyuck got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. Once he got out, he saw Taeil getting hugged by Jungwoo, and he got a sudden urge to run up and join the hug. But he didn't. He simply looked away and went into the kitchen.

Taeyong was already there, and he was in the middle of cooking. Donghyuck would've normally given him a hug, or a big "Good morning!" But he didn't. Instead, Donghyuck walked past him and got a glass of water.

Taeyong noticed this and raised his eye brow slightly.

"Morning." Donghyuck muttered, before leaving the kitchen. When he got to the living room, he quickly sat on the unclaimed sofa and got comfortable. The other members soon started to arrive, and they found themselves sitting next to Donghyuck. He had a strong feeling inside of him, which was telling him to pinch Mark, who was right next to him. But he held onto the feeling. He kept the feeling in and shook his head.

"Hey Hyuck?" Yuta, the person who had been watching Donghyuck struggles from the start, called out to him. Donghyuck looked up, and followed Yuta as he walked out, gesturing for him to follow.

"Yeah ?" Donghyuck asked.

"Are you okay?" It hasn't even been 10 minutes since Donghyuck had not shown any affection, and things were already like this.

"Yeah, why'd you think otherwise?" Yuta just awkwardly scratched his his and mumbled a small, 'Nevedmind', before leaving to help Taeyong set the table.

Donghyuck went back into the living and was stopped by a Jungwoo, who wrapped his arms around Donghyuck and said "Morning Hyuck!"

Jungwoo was one of the only people who ever showed affection to him. The others being the dream members.

"Morning hyung" Donghyuck returned the hug and then walked with him to the table, where the food was all set now.

"You have dream practice soon right?" Jungwoo asked, sitting next to Donghyuck and tilting his head.

"Yeah, I'm going to leave in a bit" Donghyuck nodded, picking up his spoon and fork, and digging into the breakfast. There was silence on the table, as normally it was Donghyuck who kept everything loud.

Mark looked up from his food and stared at Donghyuck with confusion. By now, Donghyuck would've made a comment on how at least one of the members was eating weirdly, or how they looked bad.

But he didn't.

Donghyuck got up from his seat after finishing his food, and put his bowl in the kitchen, before running into his room. He quickly got changed and hurried to the main door. It was hard to keep the affection in, so he was going to show it all to the dreamies.

"Bye hyungs!" He called out, quickly escaping through the door. He heard a few replies, and then closed the door behind him.

As soon as Donghyuck reached the practice room, he jumped onto Jaemin and gave him a big hug. Jaemin, being the person who loves affection, returned it, and even gave a small kiss to Donghyucks forehead, to which he cringed and pulled away.

"What's up?" Jaemin asked, knowing something was wrong, since Donghyuck never really came to him for hugs.

"Just..." Donghyuck eyed the other members, so that they would leave. Once they did, he turned back to Jaemin and continued. "I was showing so much of my love to the hyungs', but they always reject me and still hug each other and stuff. So I've decided to stop showing any of my affection to them."

Jaemin burst out into laughter and then patted Donghyucks shoulder. "Good luck with that! I bet you're going to fail by the end of the day."

"That's what I think as well" Donghyuck sighed, and looked down. "But that's why I have an idea."

"Oh?"

"I'm going to stay with you guys in the dream dorm, that way I won't be able to see them, or have urges to hug them" Donghyuck explained. Jaemin nodded and then gave him a smile.

"My rooms big enough for two, you can sleep with me" Jaemin suggested, and Donghyuck instantly agreed to this, especially since Jaemin's room was the cosiest.

"Are you guys done?" Jisung asked, walking back to the two. "We need to practice"

"Yeah, let's start" Donghyuck got up from the floor, and helped Jaemin up as well. The two then joined the rest of the group and they began to practice.

Half way during their practice, Taeil had called to ask Donghyuck what he wants for dinner, but he then informed him of his new plan. Taeil didn't reply at first, and then told him it was alright.

To be honest, Donghyuck staying over at the Dream dorm was perfectly normal, he did it a lot. But what Taeil found weird was that Donghyuck hadn't given him any hugs all day, he hadn't done any aegyo in front of him, and he hadn't said lovely things to him.

When the call ended between Donghyuck and Taeil, he dropped to the floor and dramatically clutched his heart.

"That was so hard, oh my god!" Donghyuck whined. Jeno, who had caught up on what Donghyuck was trying to do, bent down next to him and poked his cheek.

"Then don't do it." Jeno said, shrugging his shoulders and continuing to poke Donghyuck's cheek. "You could just speak to them about it, and tell them how you don't like it."

Jaemin immediately sat next to Jeno and shook his head. "No." Jaemin said, simply pushing Jeno slightly, so that he would get a better view of Donghyuck. "Although it's hard, they need to realise that you need love."

Donghyuck nodded at Jaemin's comment and then got back up.

"Okay, let's finish this practice"


	3. 2. a little progress

Donghyuck stared at the ceiling above him and sighed. He had been trying to sleep for the past hour or so- he hadn't really checked the time so didn't know the exact amount- but was failing to do so.

"Hyuck" He heard a small voice besides him, so he flipped his body over so that he would be closer to him. "Go to sleep."

"I can't" Donghyuck said, wrapping his arms around Jaemin and sighing. The two of them did this a lot. Whenever Donghyuck would sleep over, he would cuddle with him. Donghyuck did that with everyone, but mostly him and Jeno.

"Then try to think of something that makes you sleepy" Jaemin said, his words came out slightly slurred as he was half asleep. Donghyuck closed his eyes and started to think of things that could make him sleepy.

He thought about it for a while and ended up sleeping in the process, his arms were still tangled around Jaemin's body.

When the light for Jaemin's room got switched on, both boys flinched at the sudden brightness and slowly moved away from each other. Their elbows collided and a few hairs were pulled.

"Cuddling is soft but painful" Jaemin commented, rubbing his back which was on top of Donghyuck arm during the night. The two laughed as Renjun shook his head and then left the room.

They got dressed and then left for the practice room. They decided to get breakfast from the cafe. Chenle grabbed Donghyucks arm and pulled him towards the counter.

"Pay for me" He said, pointing at one of the drinks. Donghyuck turned to him with surprise. It was normally Chenle who got them food. "My mum forgot to send money, and I haven't gotten paid yet."

Donghyuck nodded at the explanation, and then turned to the counter. Honestly, he never paid for anyone, not even himself. But he felt like he had to pay for Chenle today, as if there was a need to show his appreciation for all the times Chenle bought food for him.

"Aight" Donghyuck said, pulling out his wallet, the one only some people had seen since he rarely even brought it, and then paid for Chenle's food. "Enjoy "

As Donghyuck threw away the remainder of his sandwich in the bin, a hand grabbed his and he was dragged to the practice room.

"Let's practice" Yuta said, finally letting go of his hand. Honestly speaking, Donghyuck never really went out of his way to be affectionate to Yuta. The was because he knew that Yuta only liked to cuddle two people. Sicheng and Taeyong.

"Alright" Donghyuck said, brushing his hair back and then turning to the others, who had dull expressions until they saw Donghyuck.

"Hey" Taeil said, once practice was over. Donghyuck was pulled aside by him and Doyoung. "Want to watch a movie today?"

Donghyuck stared at them with shock. Normally he was the one who asked -well begged sometimes- them if they wanted to watched a movie with him. Most of them time they would say yes, but it was for the food.

"Sure" Donghyuck replied, trying to hide his excitement. The trio entered the dorm and Donghyuck dropped onto the sofa. "So what're we watching?"

Taeil and Doyoung stood besides the sofa and expected Donghyuck to get up to make food, but he didn't. When they realised he wasn't going to make any food, they quickly hurried into the kitchen to get some junk food.

"Whatever you want to watch" Doyoung said, shrugging his shoulder and then sitting next to Donghyuck, unintentionally shuffling closer to him.

Taeil immediately sat down on the other side of Donghyucks as he saw how he didn't move away when Doyoung, basically, side hugged him.

"Hyuck..." Taeil started, moving his hand over Donghyuck's and putting the remote down to his lap. "Are you okay?"

Donghyuck turned to Taeil with confusion. He was perfectly fine, other than the fact that he was sad about how the members never really showed him affection, he was fine.

"Yeah" Donghyuck replied, nodding his head. "What made you think I'm not?"

"Well" Doyoung nervously sat up in the sofa and got the attention of the other two. "First of all, in the mornings you always give us each hugs. Second of all, whenever you stay over with the Dreamies, you send us all a message saying good night. Third of all, you always make food for us when we're watching movies."

"You only love me for my food" Donghyuck gasped dramatically and held a hand on his chest. A smile appeared on Doyoungs lips but disappeared quicker than it came.

"Donghyuck" Doyoung said, putting his hands on his shoulders. "You can tell us if you're not okay"

Donghyuck bit his lip and starting debating in his mind whether or not he should tell them why he's upset. _They're going to laugh...They might even get angry..._

"It's because..." Donghyuck sighed. "Whenever I hug you guys, or do anything to be honest, you guys push me away. But when it's someone else who does it with the same amount of energy as me, you all accept it..."

There was a long silence. Taeil and Doyoung were not expecting this. They thought that maybe Donghyuck had family issues, or that he was really stressed for the comeback. They were even prepared to talk to Donghyuck about love related stuff.

"Uh.." Taeil gulped. He didn't know that Donghyuck got upset by the way he reacted to Donghyuck's affection. "But I don't push you away..?"

"You do" Donghyuck said, remembering how Taeil had avoided a hug form him just a few days ago. "Even if you do accept my hugs, you still reject me the others times. I know it's stupid—"

"It's not stupid!" Doyoung finally says. He grabs Donghyuck's shoulders again and shakes him. "I didn't realise I did that to you. I guess it was since I thought it was you and didn't know you would get upset. You always laughed when we rejected you."

"It's ..okay" Donghyuck replied. He had barely finished his sentence when Doyoung pulled him into a hug. Although they found Donghyuck annoying as hell, he was still the youngest, so they all cared for him greatly. Even if they didn't show it.

"We'll make sure to return your love." Taeil whispered, joining the hug and patting Donghyuck's head. Donghyuck sighed as he felt the arms around him warm his body up.

The three pulled away from the hug and then turned back to the TV.

"Now then" Donghyuck said, clearing his throat and pointing the remote at the TV, "What should we watch?"


	4. 3. movies and cuddles

"Our first concert is tomorrow." Taeyong announced, dropping his bag onto the floor and turning to the other members.

It had been a month since Donghyuck had started his "affection-less" journey, and the only people who felt his absence were Doyoung and Taeil. Donghyuck was obviously upset about the fact that no one else noticed this, but he made sure that he didn't break. Whenever he saw Mark being cute, as always, he would look the other way and force himself to hold in the urge to pinch his cheeks.

"Make sure to get your sleep." Taeyong finished, and then got into his bed. The other members all got up and made their way to their own rooms. Donghyuck followed Johnny as they went into their room and then dropped onto their beds.

Although Johnny was generally accepting of Donghyuck's affection, he still pushed Donghyuck away whenever he wanted to just cuddle and sleep through the night. Since Donghyuck started to be less affectionate with Johnny, they seemed to have less fun than they used to.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Johnny asked, rolling around in his bed to face Donghyuck.

"Hyung literally just told us to sleep early." Donghyuck replied, turning in his bed and staring at Johnny's hopeful eyes. "But alright, what do you wanna watch?"

Johnny lit up and immediately jumped up from his bed, forgetting the fact that his muscles were aching, and climbed into Donghyuck's bed.

"Anything you want!" Johnny said, wrapping his arm around Donghyuck's shoulder and pulling him closer. Donghyuck smiled to himself as he felt the warmth on the left side of his body. He quickly pulled out his tablet and searched for a movie. Johnny snuggled closer to Donghyuck and then stuffed his head into Donghyuck's hair.

"Why are you angry at us?"

Donghyuck's smile dropped and he paused the movie. Johnny remained still in Donghyuck's hair, and waited for an answer.

Of course he had noticed. Donghyuck was always running up to him, throwing his arm up and then pulling in for a hug. Then suddenly, Donghyuck was avoiding eye contact and didn't sit close to any of the members, except for three of them. It was very suspicious. But, Johnny didn't want to touch on the subject. He had seen the way Donghyuck woke up the next morning after having a long talk with Doyoung and Taeil. His eyes were puffy, and he was clearly sick. But Johnny didn't ask. He didn't want to make Donghyuck feel worse than he was.

And that was his mistake.

He should've asked.

"I'm not angry." Donghyuck replied quietly, tucking the tablet into its case and then sliding it back to where it was before. Johnny stayed in his place for a few seconds before pulling away. He shuffled down the bed, until his face was on Donghyuck's level, and his feet were off the bed.

"Then why have you been avoiding us?" Johnny asked, staring into Donghyuck's eyes. A silence washed over them as Johnny stared at Donghyuck, raising his eyebrow when he got no response.

"You guys push me away." Donghyuck replied, lowering his head and closing his head. He felt Johnny's grip on his waist loosen and heard a small "oh".

"I know you guys don't mean to." Donghyuck continued, pulling at the bottom of his shirt and opening his eyes. "At least some of you don't."

Guilt built up in Johnny as he heard Donghyuck continue to mutter about all the times he felt annoyed and sad at the same time. All the times he felt jealous when he saw the other members be close with each other but push him away.

"I know it doesn't mean much to you guys." Donghyuck mumbled, closing his eyes to hold in his tears as he spoke. "But I don't really get to spend time with the people who are openly affectionate towards me."

He was talking about the dreamies, and Johnny knew. Donghyuck was the annoying little brat of 127, but one of the loved ones in dream. Of course, he annoyed them as well, but he had a crazy love for the kids, and always made sure to show it. He would spend hours taking care of them, cooking for them, and helping them with their work. It wasn't as if Donghyuck didn't do this was the 127 members. Hell, he did more for them, but that was because they didn't accept him.

"You guys are a lot older than me." Donghyuck pointed out the obvious, sighing as he spoke. "So I knew there were limits to how close we could be, or how friendly we could be. But Mark hyung was only a year older than me. I tried my best to treat him like a friend, a close friend, but he always pushed me away. And you don't understand, it hurts more when he does it."

Johnny moved forwards in the bed and wrapped his arm around Donghyuck, pulling him into a hug. He blinked back his tears and pressed his lips into a line. He didn't know that Donghyuck was getting sad over this. He thought that Donghyuck was fine with the way things were. They obviously didn't mean to do those things on purpose, but they just did since they always thought Donghyuck was just teasing them.

"I'm sorry." Johnny said, bringing his head down to stuff it into Donghyuck's hair. He took a deep breath and then blew it out. "I'm really sorry for not noticing this. I promise Haechanie, I won't reject you again."

"No no." Donghyuck pulled away and looked up to him. "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault exactly. It's just me being childish and unable to take these-"

Johnny sighed and then shook his head. He put his hand over Donghyuck's mouth and interupted him.

"It is partly my fault, alright?" Johnny said, and Donghyuck slowly nodded. "And it's not childish. You're hurt, and that's understandable."

They lay there in silence before Johnny got comfortable on the bed.

"Anyways, we should sleep." Donghyuck looked up at him with surprise and then flashed a smile. He turned around in the bed and Johnny threw a leg over him.

"Night hyung." Donghyuck said, closing his eyes and feeling his body get enveloped by warmth.

"Night Hyuckie." Johnny whispered, smiling as he saw Donghyuck fall asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.


	5. 4. small jealous sparks

"Are you avoiding me?" Mark asked, as he grabbed Donghyuck's arm and pulled him back. They were on their way to the venue for their first concert, and Mark had had enough.

Of course he wasn't blind. He knew Donghyuck was doing this on purpose. But he didn't want to ask about it, because he knew that Donghyuck was somehow going to guilt trip him into apologising for something he hadn't even done. Just like a few years back.

"No." Donghyuck replied coldly, shaking Mark's grip off his wrist and walking towards the tour bus. Mark watched Donghyuck walk away and rolled his eyes. He cared about why Donghyuck was acting like that, but he didn't want Donghyuck to know that he had won.

"Fine then, be like that." Mark rolled his eyes and followed Donghyuck to the bus. Once they got on, Donghyuck sat in a corner with Johnny. The two whispered jokes to each other and laughed at them quietly. Taeil was currently sleeping on their journey up to the venue, so everyone was trying to be quiet.

"What's so funny?" Taeyong asked, shuffling towards Donghyuck and Johnny. Taeyong had noticed everything. The way Donghyuck was super friendly with Taeil and Doyoung after their movie night, and then the same thing after he shared a room with Johnny. He could just tell what Donghyuck's problem was, and he felt bad about it.

"Johnny hyung showed me this." Donghyuck passed his phone over to show Taeyong a meme. The trio laughed at the meme and then hushed down when they saw Taeil stir in his sleep.

Mark narrowed his eyes at how Taeyong willingly put his arm around Donghyuck's shoulder and pulled him closer, and how Johnny put his head on Donghyuck's shoulder, only after shuffling down the seat to reach it. He wasn't jealous. Of course not. But he was just annoyed that Donghyuck wasn't telling _him_ why he was so upset, but he had told a couple of other people.

"What's wrong?" Jungwoo questioned, getting up from his seat across Mark to the one besides him. "You seem upset."

Mark wasn't upset, just annoyed. He didn't understand why his _best friend_ was acting this way, yet other members in the group knew. It wasn't right.

"Nothing." Mark smiled, turning to Jungwoo and reaching for his cheeks. It had become a habit. Mark used to see everyone do it to Jungwoo, and the way Jungwoo acted caused Mark to just uwu. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" Jungwoo tilted his head, causing more flips in Mark's heart. It was just too much of a cute sight, so he reached for his other cheek and then smushed them together.

"Yeah." Mark chuckled, and then pulled away, but he caught the silver haired male, who was sitting a few seats away from him, drop his head down as Mark looked over to him.

 _Was he staring?_ Mark thought, squinting as he saw Donghyuck sigh and then raise his head again, looking more sad than usual.

The bus came to a stop and everyone rushed off. The fans outside pushed against the barrier that was between them and the members, causing some of them to flinch as they walked past. Sure they loved their fans, but getting crazy love wasn't fun.

"Donghyuck." Mark called out from across the dressing room. "Are you okay?"

As much as he didn't want to ask Donghyuck, he still did. He needed to know. It wasn't a best friend complex or anything, he just had to know why Donghyuck was looking so sad all the time.

"I'm fine." Donghyuck replied, nodding his head as the makeup artist poked his lips with some gloss. He closed his eyes as she fixed his eye makeup and Mark forgot that he was still staring at him.

"Cool." Mark replied, looking back to his reflection in the mirror and sighing.

"Come on." Yuta said, patting Mark's back and waking his up from his day dream. "We're going on stage now."

Mark quickly got up from his seat and followed the rest of the members to the back of the stage. They stood behind the massive screen and waited for their parts to play. As Donghyuck's part played in limitless, Mark frowned as for the first time since the song had been released, he realised that Donghyuck didn't actually have much to say. He then saw Yuta run out for his one line, and then Sicheng run out to just background music.

When his part came up, he ran forwards and rapped through it all, glancing around to see the other members getting into formation for the dance. Every time they did promotions for a song, Mark never really paid attention to the line distribution. He knew it wasn't fair, as some of the members were barely ever at the recording studio, but only now did he realise it was extremely unfair.

"What's up New Jersey!" Mark heard Johnny yell. He turned around to see him, but instead got distracted by Donghyuck, who was bopping his head to whatever Johnny said. A smile crept up his face as he watched Donghyuck hit Johnny for the lame joke he made, but then continue to laugh at it.

Time passed quickly and everyone started to say their goodbyes slowly. Once Mark was finished, he turned to Donghyuck, who hastily grabbed his mic and brought it close to his mouth. He breathed into it and turned red out of embarrassment, but smiled to hide it.

As Donghyuck spoke, Mark zoned out as he stared at his face. He then saw a hand reach over for Donghyuck's head and pat it. Only a few moments later he realised that it was in fact his own hand, and that Donghyuck had moved back from it and patted Mark's back.

He was confused at first. Normally Donghyuck got really happy whenever Mark hugged him, or pat his head. He enjoyed those kind of things. It made him feel appreciated. So why did he stay away from Mark's hand this time?

Donghyuck smiled at Mark and then waved at the audience, who couldn't stop screaming at the fact that Mark had just done that to Donghyuck. Johnny then turned to the fans and made another joke, flapping his hands around and smiling as he watched the people in the audience shake their phones as they laughed.

"Bye bye!" The members all yelled, walking off the stage and then making their way to the dressing room. Donghyuck looked down at the floor as the stylists brought in their casual clothes and wiped their makeup off.

"Hey Hyuck." Taeil whispered, poking Donghyuck's arm to get his attention. "You okay?"

Donghyuck titled his head up and smiled sadly.

"I'm ok."  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also yes,, I added sicheng to the tour because why not :)


	6. 5. pranks and games

Yuta sighed aggressively as he watched Donghyuck sit on the sofa besides him. Normally, Donghyuck would've jump onto the sofa and thrown his arms around Yuta, claiming the fact the he needed a hug, even though he had just left Johnny's side after an hour. But this time, he didn't. Instead, he sat down on the sofa softly, making sure to not disturb Yuta, since he knows that he can get annoyed easily, and then rested his head on the edge.

Yuta turned his head to his right to stare at Donghyuck, who was currently trying to fall asleep on the sofa. They were all in the lobby for their plane ride, and Donghyuck was exhausted already. It made sense however. He had just gotten back from his injury and got sent onto a world tour where he had to learn new choreography and overcome his fear of heights. It was tiring.

"Haechanie." Yuta said, reaching over to tap Donghyuck's arm. "Come here."

Yuta patted his lap and waited for Donghyuck to respond. When he realised Donghyuck had already fallen asleep in his sitting position, he frowned and then bit his lip. Yuta moved forwards and grabbed Donghyuck's head gently, pulling it down to place it onto his lap. Donghyuck remained asleep as Yuta brushed the hair out of his face with his fingers, and then tugged them behind his ear.

He had never actually let Donghyuck do anything like this before. He had done it multiple times with Sicheng, or Taeyong, or even any other member. But never with Donghyuck. Mostly since he got annoyed by him quite quickly, so made sure to not be too close with him at all times.

Donghyuck moved in his sleep and his closed eyes shut even further. Yuta looked down at him with worry and then brought his face closer to him. Donghyuck relaxed after a while, but Yuta stayed put. He admired Donghyuck's face for the first time in ages. He never really did that with anyone, other than Sicheng, so it was quite a surprise for himself as well.

"What're you doing?" Mark asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched Yuta hover his face above Donghyuck's, he had a suspiciously creeping smile plastered across his face. Yuta glanced up at Mark, who leaned forwards to hear an answer, and then blinked a few times.

"I'm admiring him." Yuta admitted, feeling no shame for what he was doing, since he wasn't really doing anything wrong. It just seemed weird.

Yuta heard a small noise from beneath him, so he snapped his head down to see Donghyuck smiling and holding in a laugh. Yuta instantly moved back and slapped Donghyuck's arm, rolling his eyes as he pushed Donghyuck off his lap.

"You were awake!" Yuta groaned, putting one of his legs over the other and leaning back in the seat. Donghyuck climbed onto the sofa from the ground and laughed again.

"Of course I was. No one falls asleep that quickly." Donghyuck shook his head and then leaned into the back on the sofa. He brought his legs up and tucked them under his chin. As he closed his eyes, Yuta saw as Donghyuck's smile dropped as he immediately fell asleep.

"No one falls asleep that quickly." Yuta mocked, face palming as he saw Donghyuck crush his own arms between his head and knees. Yuta reached over and pulled Donghyuck's head onto his lap again.

Something was up. It was weird. Yuta had never been so affectionate to Donghyuck, yet here he was, willingly putting Donghyuck's head onto his lap. It had been so long since the last time Donghyuck had cutely called out to Yuta, and then annoyed the crap out of him. As much as Yuta was thankful for that ending, he also missed it.

"Haechanie." Yuta whispered, knowing he was asleep but still speaking. "Why don't you come to me anymore?"

Mark raised his head from his phone and listened to Yuta's one sided conversation, but then soon after got up and sat somewhere else, since he felt as if he was intruding on some deep conversation between the two.

"I miss playing with you." Yuta confessed, sighing as he had just said something that he never thought he would say out loud. "Although you were annoying, and I felt like beating you up a lot of the time we spent together, I enjoyed it."

Donghyuck turned around in Yuta's lap, so that his back was facing Yuta's stomach, and he then slowly opened one of his eyes. He was obviously awake, but was too tired to say anything. Yuta leaned down and then blew some air on Donghyuck's cheek which then got followed by a sigh.

"Not all the members are into cuddling." Yuta randomly said, bringing his hand back up to Donghyuck's hair and brushing through them again. He liked the feeling of his hair, it was soft and smooth. Not tangled up like Johnny's or Taeyong's. "You're one of the only members who willingly come into my bed."

Yuta remembered how he once was laying in bed, unable to sleep due to the stress for the performance at their comeback stage. Donghyuck had opened the door to his room, knowing that he was awake, since he knew that Yuta was one who couldn't deal with pressure that well, and he tiptoed over to his bed.

The small "hyung?" Yuta heard, before Donghyuck climbed onto his bed and tucked himself in between his arms, made Yuta feel soft for him. It was just too cute. But now thinking back to it, he feels slightly angry at himself, since he then recalls how he woke up to Sicheng staring at him with shock, which then resulted in him pushing Donghyuck of the bed and screaming an, 'I only love you!' at Sicheng.

"So please." Yuta snaked his hand down to Donghyuck's cheek and cupped it, pulling it towards himself so that Donghyuck was facing him. "Come back to me."

Donghyuck raised his eyes to lock them with Yuta's and then let out a long sigh. He of course also missed the times he spent with Yuta, mostly in the night as Yuta wasn't exactly a daylight cuddler. But he also can't forget the times when Yuta would harshly tug his arm away and glare at Donghyuck for being to close, or for invading his personal space.

Nonetheless, Donghyuck smiled up at Yuta, as he knew that the older member was sad, and had been clearly missing his presence, and said, "Of course I'll come back hyung."


	7. 6. kisses and night talks

Dong Sicheng was not a fan of cuddles and neither was he a fan of kisses, but when it came to Donghyuck, he was an even bigger hater of them. He didn't have anything against Donghyuck, of course not, he loved the kid, but it was just the idea of someone kissing his cheeks, or hands, or neck (since Donghyuck for some weird reason likes leaving marks on them).

And recently, Donghyuck had suddenly stopped doing any of those things. At least, from what he could see, Donghyuck had stopped doing it with him. Not that he wasn't pleased with the idea that his neck wouldn't have some coloured marks on them -which would be very difficult to hide from fans, and even more hard to explain what they were to the stylists- Sicheng was still missing them. He would enter the dressing room, and instinctively reach for the bottom of his neck, only to realise Donghyuck hadn't even come close to him for the past month.

Now that they were on tour, Donghyuck was even more busy with preparation, and trying to find a good place to visit for their vlogs, that he never even snuck his way through the rooms and dropped near Sicheng's bed.

The two of them were not exactly close friends. Maybe it was because Donghyuck was the only member who was brave enough to make a joke about Sicheng's lack of lines, or about how his Korean pronunciation isn't very good. But then again, Donghyuck was one of the only members who would lie down next to Sicheng and wrap an arm around his waist, pulling him closer as he spoke in a hushed voice. Donghyuck would compliment his vocals and talk about how he wanted to learn some dance moves from him.

The only other member who would do that with Sicheng, was in fact Renjun. That was because the two were basically like brothers, and knew how to please the other. But this was Donghyuck. The same Donghyuck who was low key scared of Sicheng, as the way they first met, Sicheng was practising a dance Donghyuck had never seen before, and it kind of intimidated him.

As time went on, Donghyuck slowly got over Sicheng's deep voice and sharp tone of speaking, since he then finally started to understand what he was talking about. Sicheng told Donghyuck about how life was in China, before he moved to Korea it become an idol, and weirdly enough, Donghyuck would sit there for hours and listen.

But they weren't close.

One thing that annoyed Sicheng, however, was the way Mark looked over at them whenever Donghyuck used to throw his arm over his shoulder. Mark would have this stern expression on his face, and then he would go back to playing with his nails and pretending as if he hadn't even looked over at them.

Mark would casually cuddle with Sicheng, even though he was constantly claiming the fact that he "hates skinship with a passion". But as Mark would cuddle with Sicheng, the two would glance over at Donghyuck, who would lower his head and focus his glassy eyes on the locked phone screen. Sicheng felt bad about that, of course he did. He knew that Donghyuck used to get a little jealous over things like this, not because Donghyuck had feelings for any of the two, but because he was always rejected by Mark, and majority of the time by Sicheng.

"You're lucky." Donghyuck once said to Sicheng, as he watched Mark exit the room after pinching his cheek.

Sicheng remembers clearly how he tilted his head up to stare at Donghyuck, who had this eyes fixated toward the closed door. The two sat in silence as the sound of the clock echoed in the half empty room. Sicheng didn't know what to say, since he wasn't used to Donghyuck being so silent, or _sad._

"How so?" Sicheng had asked, narrowing his eyes as Donghyuck sighed and stood up from his seat.

"At least hyung loves you." Donghyuck mumbled, walking past Sicheng and fiddling with the door handle. He snuck one last glance before opening the door and rushing out of it.

If only Sicheng had stopped him and said something.

He regretted it.

And so he was going to fix it.  
After nearly a whole year or so, but he was going to do it now.

The door to Donghyuck's shared hotel room opened and then closed within a few seconds. Johnny, who had his arms thrown over Donghyuck's waist, since their beds were joined together, raised his head and then dropped back onto his pillow, releasing Donghyuck from his grip.

Feeling the warmth drift away, Donghyuck hummed in annoyance, and then turned around in his bed not expecting to face Sicheng.

"Move up Haechanie." Sicheng whispered, poking Donghyuck's sides and then making his way onto the bed. Donghyuck groaned as he felt Sicheng's elbows dig into his stomach, but still loosely wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled him closer. Sicheng felt Donghyuck's warm breath hit his neck and strangely enough, he felt relaxed. Normally, if that was to happen, he would begin to worry about stylists and fan cameras, but in that moment, he felt so relieved, and he unconsciously moved his body backwards.

Donghyuck noticed the movement and smiled at it. It had been so long since he had been so close with Sicheng, literally. Before the tour took place, Sicheng had disappeared to China for promotions, which happened to be before Donghyuck had started his mission to not be affectionate towards the members. Once Sicheng came back, the two had sat far away from each other, mostly because Yuta was always besides him, caressing his cheek or doing something cute with him.

Donghyuck leaned forwards and placed a kiss on Sicheng's neck, causing him to shiver due to the contrast in their body temperatures. Although Donghyuck had been wrapped in blankets and Johnny, he was still freezing cold. And his lips were even worse. When they touched Sicheng's neck for the second time, they were warmer than before. Sicheng guessed it was because Donghyuck's face had heated up.

Which it had. Since it had been so long since Donghyuck had kissed anyone, excluding Renjun, on the neck, he found it slightly embarrassing.

The mattress sunk as Johnny, in his sleeping form, turned in his bed and threw a leg over Donghyuck, and Sicheng's, body. A small chuckle escaped Donghyuck's mouth, and Sicheng felt at ease.

Even if he hadn't said anything, he knew he had fixed things with Donghyuck.


	8. 7. Miami beach affect

"To the beach." Jungwoo had said, declaring the fact that the group was going to have to follow him there for a vlog, and honestly, they weren't complaining. It was going to be nice to just take a day off and simply relax by the water, absorbing the heat from the sun.

But what was difficult, for Donghyuck at least, was keeping his hands off Mark. He was failing to keep his mission up as he saw Mark wobble over to his side, his blonde hair was bouncing from left to right, and his eyes were squinted as he, first of all couldn't really see anything without his glasses, and second of all because the sunlight was too bright.

The reason why Donghyuck was finding it so hard to stop himself from picking Mark up, with his arms wrapped around his waist, bringing his face to his back and being unable to control his laughter, is because Mark was doing the same thing. Before getting onto the bus to go to the beach, the group had done a live, to talk to their fans and let them know how they're doing.

During the live, Mark was extremely touchy with Donghyuck. He kept on patting his arms, leaning down and placing his chin on the side of Donghyuck's shoulder and literally breathing down his neck. But that's not what made Donghyuck lose it and hug Mark randomly. It was when the live had ended, and Mark said, "Come on Fullsun, let's got to the beach."

Just the simple nickname "Fullsun" made him happy. Mark wasn't someone who uses nicknames in real life. He would call Donghyuck 'Hyuck' from time to time, but that was only since his name was apparently too long for Mark to say. Other nicknames, such as 'Haechannie', Mark said very rarely, since he didn't like using his stage name when they weren't on stage, or in front of cameras.

The rest of the members watched with shock, as Donghyuck swiftly turned in the sand and ran towards Mark, who continued to laugh and tried to save himself, and his phone, from Donghyuck.

"I had to ask." Jaehyun said, peeling his eyes away from the duo who had now walked into the water, "Why was Haechan avoiding us?"

The members who knew why, so basically everyone else, glanced over at Jaehyun and shrugged. They wanted him to figure it out himself, or be told by Donghyuck himself, as they knew he would want it that way. Jaehyun narrowed his eyes at them and then sighed.

Jaehyun was always someone who accepted affection, and especially from Donghyuck. But he was also someone who would blatantly choose other people over Donghyuck, and not even realise he was being too harsh.

"Let's go back now." Taeyong yelled, waving at the silver haired and blonde males who were now chin deep in the water. The two began to swim towards Taeyong, and ended up kicking each other in the stomach, causing them to burst into fits of laughter again.

Once Donghyuck realised what he was doing, and how he had completely lost control over himself, he quickly straightened up and ran towards Taeil.

"I messed up!" Donghyuck said, covering his cheeks and shaking his head. Taeil laughed at him, and then pat his back, whispering motivational things to him. "I'll try my best to stop."  
  


Mark was confused. He had spent nearly the entire morning with Donghyuck, laughing with him, eating food with him, and then playing at the beach with him. But then suddenly, Donghyuck dipped. He went back to the way he was before the day had begun, avoiding eye contact and any conversation opportunities.

"Why is Hyuck avoiding me again?", Mark asked Jaehyun, who was equally as confused as him.

"I don't know." Jaehyun replied, eyeing Donghyuck as he placed his head onto Sicheng's shoulder. "He hasn't stopped avoiding me in ages."

The two shared a confused glance and then turned back to Donghyuck.

"But what I don't understand is," Mark continued, leaning closer to Jaehyun so that the other members wouldn't hear them. "He didn't avoid Jungwoo hyung, or the dreamies at all."

Jaehyun nodded and then moved back, after he caught Donghyuck staring at how close they were.

The bus finally arrived at the venue and the members quietly groaned and got off it. They were constantly travelling, so when it came down to the actual concert, they would be too tired to perform.

"Let's do this!" Johnny cheered across the dressing room at the other members, who sleepily nodded along to what he said. The members all kept their heads low and waited for the concert to begin.

Jaehyun, however, had other plans. He needed to find out why Donghyuck was so upset with him. And so, he got out of his chair, once the makeup artist finally finished the last touches, and he made his way to Donghyuck.

"Hyuck, can we talk?"

The other members in the room all watched them leave from the corner of their eyes. Everyone, except for Mark, sighed in relief, knowing that they were going to get back on better terms. It was weird seeing Donghyuck avoid his own roommate.

"What's wrong?" Jaehyun asked immediately, not even waiting for the door to close behind him before he could talk to Donghyuck.

"What do you mean, what's wrong?" Donghyuck questioned. He knew exactly what Jaehyun was asking about, but he wanted him to ask him directly about the problem.

"Why have you been so distant?" Jaehyun finally said, brushing a hand through his hair, knowing that his stylist would most probably kill him for that, but still kept his eyes fixed on Donghyuck.

"Because hyung," Donghyuck took a deep breath and explained why he was so annoyed at him, and the rest of the members. Jaehyun's eyes slowly widened and he nodded along to what Donghyuck was saying. He had never known that Donghyuck had taken the things he said to him to heart, since Donghyuck would always laugh along and then change the topic. _Oh_.

"I'm sorry." Jaehyun said, reaching forwards and pulling Donghyuck into a hug. The younger instantly fit into his arms and they both took a deep breath. It had been a while since they had last hugged, and to say that Jaehyun hadn't missed it would be a lie.

"It's alright." Donghyuck smiled into Jaehyun's shoulder and then pulled away, looking up at Jaehyun to reassure him that everything was fine now.

"We're going up now." Yuta said, as the other members exited the room, gesturing for the two to join them.The group all climbed up the stage and took their places, all revealing themselves one after the other.

On the stage, Mark kept on turning to Donghyuck and catching his eyes. He smiled at Donghyuck, which caused him to smile back, without even saying any words. Although Donghyuck was annoyed at him, he couldn't stop himself from smiling back at Mark, or laughing along with the things he said, even when he had no idea what he was saying.

It was just something between them, and they couldn't explain it. Their friendship was too strong, and maybe that's why Mark unknowingly took advantage of it.


	9. 8. Dallas day out

Donghyuck remembers how when Jaehyun asked who wanted to join him on his day out in New York, Mark had jumped up immediately, shoving Taeyong to the side and begging Jaehyun to take him. He also remembers how Doyoung eyed everyone in the room after getting news of where he was going, and then specifically picked Jungwoo, declaring him the only mature one, knowing that was a lie. Donghyuck also remembers how Jungwoo scanned the room, ignoring Doyoung's outstretched arm, and chose Johnny, who gave Jungwoo a smile thats meaning even Donghyuck didn't know.

But when it came to Donghyuck's turn, he entered the room and saw everyone quietly groan to themselves, not knowing that Donghyuck had in fact seen that. After a good 10 minutes of silently asking someone to join him, Mark got up and volunteered to accompany Donghyuck. He was shocked, kind of happy, but more nervous. He had avoided Mark the whole time after they left the beach in Miami, and now he was supposed to spend half of the day with him.

"So where are we going?" Mark asked, snapping Donghyuck out of his thoughts and turning to the camera which had started recording. As soon as Donghyuck saw the red light was on, he switched his confused expression for a more calm and relaxed one.

"I don't really know." Donghyuck confessed, glancing at the manager who face palmed, getting annoyed at the fact that Donghyuck had forgotten what he had told him just an hour ago. "Oh wait! Some garden place."

Mark tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrow. Now, he wasn't against some garden related place, however, were they really going to spend their time just walking past flowers?

"And then we'll go eat." The manager added, shaking his head as Donghyuck turned to him for help.

The trip to the place wasn't so bad, as Donghyuck started playing some music, mostly to distract Mark from not speaking to him, and since he just loves listening to music. Once they got there, Mark started to speak in English and Donghyuck simply nodded along to whatever he said. He understood a few words, and even contributed sometimes with a "yes" or an "ncity", but other than that he remained quiet.

Mark knew exactly why he was so quiet, and was trying his best to make Donghyuck speak. But every time he did, he used small phrases and nodded along to everything.

"Let's get food now!" Mark said, grabbing Donghyuck's arm and tugging him towards the exit. Donghyuck followed him and quickly passed the camera to one of the staff members. He looked down at his arm, where Mark was clutching onto it, and hide his smile.

Weirdly enough, Mark was starting to initiate the skinship, and it was, clearly, weird, but Donghyuck didn't mind of course, he actually liked it. For once, Donghyuck didn't have to reach over and grab his hand, or throw his arm over, or even force Mark to out his arm around himself. For once, it was someone else.

"Did you bring your wallet?" Mark asked, narrowing his eyes at Donghyuck and then looking up and down with suspicion. Donghyuck scoffed and stuffed his hand into his pocket, poking his fingers through to get a grip onto his wallet and then dropped it onto the table. "Okay okay."

Mark laughed at Donghyuck's action and then pulled his own wallet out, placing it besides him. Donghyuck glanced at it and then away, he looked into the camera for a split second and then causally learned back, slipping his hand over Mark's wallet and bringing it to his face. He opened it and stared at the picture. It was of Mark and his family. Mark was a small baby and was holding onto his mum and dad's arm, with his older brother towering over their chair.

"Ah!" Mark snatched the wallet from him and felt his cheeks heating up. It wasn't an embarrassing picture, just one he hadn't shown anyone. "Privacy!"

Mark turned to the camera and then pointed at Donghyuck with his pinky. The smile on his face widened as Donghyuck leaned over to check the picture again. Even if it was just for the camera, Donghyuck was treating him normally, and he was glad. He still needed to find out what was wrong, but for the moment, he just wanted to join the others presence.

"One second." Donghyuck put his hand up towards Mark as they got up to leave the restaurant. Mark nodded and then turned to the camera, starting to speak about random stuff. When he realised he was making no sense, he raised his hand and made a scissors sign, indicating that he wanted the editors to cut that bit out.

Mark looked around for Donghyuck and saw him posing near the bench area. He quickly walked over to him and got into the same pose, looking down and holding in his urge to smile.

Why was he so happy?

Since he got to spend the whole day with Donghyuck.

"How was the day out?" Taeyong asked Donghyuck as soon as Mark left the room to change. Once they had taken a few pictures, they rushed home and posted them, knowing that fans would be really excited over them.

"It was good." Donghyuck replied, staring at the door which Mark had passed through. It was nice talking to Mark again, messing around with him, and randomly breaking into a song. But Mark still didn't ask him why Donghyuck was mad, or even upset, instead he just ignored the issue and pretended it was alright. Donghyuck was somewhat fine with that, but it annoyed him, knowing that Mark wasn't even trying to fix things between them.

"Did Mark...?" Johnny asked, shuffling closer to the two. Donghyuck turned to him and sighed.

"No." Donghyuck said, sighing again and then pouting. "He's been avoiding the whole situation, I doubt he even wants to fix things."

Taeyong and Johnny exchanged looks and then put their hand over Donghyuck's knee.

"I'm sure he wants to fix it but just... you know, doesn't know what to say?" Taeyong said, bringing his other hand to Donghyuck's shoulder. "But I suggest you forget about that right now."

"Yeah." Johnny chimed, "Our fans are actually quite happy with the way you and Mark have been interacting. Just keep it up for at least till the tours end."

Donghyuck looked down at his lap and then at the door which had just opened, revealing the blonde who was now in a massive sweater and jeans.

He ignored the way his cheeks lit up, and his eyes darted around the room, trying to look away from Mark, but instead focused on the way Mark climbed onto the sofa and tucked himself into Doyoung's arms. He felt a small tug in his heart and frowned.

He needed to ignore that feeling before it got bigger.


	10. 9. snap

Mark had had enough.

The whole day, Donghyuck had avoided Mark, like always at this point, and didn't even speak to him. However, this is what really pissed him off, when they got onto stage and started to interact with their fans, Donghyuck kept turning around to face Mark and laugh with him, joke around with him, and sometimes even wrap him arm over Mark's shoulder.

Mark didn't like how Donghyuck was treating him. Sometimes he felt special when Donghyuck would turn to him, flash a smile whilst he had hair in his eyes, and then look away, snaking his hand over to Mark arm and holding it. But then sometimes Mark felt like shit, whenever Donghyuck would avoid eye contact and run away from him as if he was a disease.

He had had **enough**.

"Donghyuck, what the fuck is your problem?" Mark barked, grabbing Donghyuck's arm and spinning him around as soon as they entered the dressing room. Donghyuck flinched at his harsh tone, but immediately regained his composure.

"What do you mean Mark hyung?" Donghyuck asked, jerking his wrist away as he felt a stinging sensation spread across it.

"You know exactly what I mean." Mark replied, putting a hand on Jaehyun, who tried to calm him down, and pushing him away. "First you ignore me and pretend as if I'm some horrible person, and then you randomly, on stage, give me hugs. What is your problem?"

"My problem..." Donghyuck started, ignoring the small hands Yuta offered in attempt to pull him backwards. This was actually the first time Mark had gotten mad at Donghyuck. Out of all the members, he was the only member Mark had never gotten angry with, which was surprising. But Mark used to say something along the lines that 'Its Donghyuck, I can't get mad at him'.

"Yeah? What is it?" Mark questioned, moving forwards and poking Donghyuck's shoulder. "Just tell me already."

"My problem is that you guys push me away all the time." Donghyuck said, raising his hand and copying Mark's action, pushing him away slightly. "You guys treat me like shit because I don't complain." Donghyuck repeated it and pushed Mark again, with more force. "You guys think I don't see it, but I know you all have some sort of negative feelings towards me."

Donghyuck pushed Mark again, this time using both of his hands, causing him to stumble backwards and grab onto Jaehyun to balance himself again. The room went silent as Donghyuck then leaned forwards and put his hand on Mark's shoulder again.

"My problem is that you all think I'm some sort of joke." Donghyuck continued, digging his fingers into Mark's shoulder as he shoved him again. "You all don't like huggin me. You all choose each other over me. I can't hang out with the friends who actually care about me because I'm stuck with people like you."

Mark's eye twitched at that and he stood up straight, letting go of Jaehyun, who had a shocked expression like the rest of the group in the room. Mark slapped Donghyuck's hand away and then stepped forwards at him.

"Donghyuck you're such a baby!" Mark exclaimed, throwing his hands up and laughing slightly. "You're actually getting annoyed over the fact that, what? We don't baby you?"

Johnny's eyes widened and then swiftly moved forwards to hold Mark back from saying anything else, but Mark simply turned to him and shook his head.

"No hyung, he needs to hear this." Mark said, and then turned back to Donghyuck. "Fine, we choose each other over you, but have you ever thought that maybe it's because you're doing something wrong? That you're acting so immature sometimes that it's actually hard to be your friend?"

Donghyuck stared at Mark with a neutral face and then he started to turn red with anger.

"What do you mean?!" Donghyuck shook his head and his hand balled into a fist. "I'm not asking you to baby me. And I know for sure that I'm not doing anything wrong, because if I was, why would I have the dreamies as friends, huh?"

"That's because they're babies like you!" Mark yelled, causing everyone to flinch. Mark had never raised his voice when speaking to the members. He was always the calm one between them, the one who liked to fix things through talking normally rather than screaming at each other. "They're babies like you, but they're still more mature when speaking to us! That's why we-"

Mark stopped in his sentence as he saw Donghyuck's eyes water up as he guessed what Mark's next phrase was going to be. He lowered his arms and took a deep breath.

"We what hyung?" Donghyuck said, letting his shoulder relax as his eyes softened. The tears in his eyes threatening to spill as he watched Mark sigh. "That why you guys like them more than me? That's why you like to spend more time with them? Because you like showing your love to them more?"

The silence in the room was deadly. No one wanted to disturb it, since they knew any word they said would cause Donghyuck to burst into the tears he was holding so hard to keep in. The door to the dressing room opened and their manager walked in.

"Come on, we have to go home." He said, glancing around the room to see them all circled around Mark and Donghyuck. He squinted his eyes as he saw Donghyuck's face was red and his eyes were glassy. "Haechan what's-"

Before the manager could finish his sentence, Donghyuck reached to his left and picked up some wipes, then grabbed a jacket and left the room.

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to do, since they all thought they were back on normal terms with Donghyuck.

"Okay." The manager put his phone into his pocket and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing into his hand and then looking up at the members. "What in the world did you guys do to him?"


	11. 10. trust simply broken

Donghyuck knew what Mark said was somewhat right. He did act like a child sometimes, and maybe his decision to not show affection to the other members until they returned it was...childish. He shouldn't have listened to the manager. He should've just continued showing affection, that way Mark wouldn't have gotten angry with him, they wouldn't have had a fight, and now eating breakfast on the same table wouldn't have been this awkward.

"Have some of this Haechanie." Taeil offered, stretching a bowl of rice towards Donghyuck and smiling softly at him. Donghyuck returned the smile, although both him and Taeil knew it was fake, and then took the rice, putting some into his plate.

The night was as awkward as this, when Johnny entered the room, to find Donghyuck laying in bed, sniffling. He had walked up to him and pat his back, asking him to talk to him, and fix this problem, as if they hadn't just a few weeks back. But Donghyuck simply turned around in bed, unable to talk to anyone at the moment, because he had just gotten shouted at by his best friend, for something he was sure wasn't entirely his fault. Yet he believed he was being childish.

"Thanks." Donghyuck mumbled, passing the bowl back to Taeil, and glancing over at Mark who was staring at his plate.

Donghyuck obviously wasn't the only one affected. Everyone was, especially Mark. Once Donghyuck ran away, they had all explained to the manager what had happened, and he turned to Mark and shook his head in disapproval. What Mark had done, wasn't wrong, but it wasn't right either. There could've been so many different ways to have handle the situation. Mark could've asked Donghyuck why he was avoiding him, asked him to tell him all his feelings.

However, Donghyuck wasn't the only kid in their group. Just because Mark was once the leader of NCT Dream, and just because Mark had done so many mature things, and tolerated Donghyuck's behaviour, that doesn't mean he isn't allowed to lash out like that. Of course he felt bad about it, but he couldn't keep his emotions in check after being mistreated by his friend for nearly 3 months.

"Oh." Mark randomly said, staring blankly at his plate.

"Anyways." Taeyong tore his eyes off Mark and then put his hands on the table. "We have one last concert left, so can we please pretend to be normal at least in front of the fans?"

The members all nodded their heads and then turned to Donghyuck, who sighed and nodded in agreement. It was going to be hard to pretend everything was alright, but Donghyuck had been able to do this for a while now, so this shouldn't be any worse than before.

"Donghyuck." Sicheng whispered, putting his hand on Donghyuck's thigh and tilting his head towards him. "Can we please talk about yesterday?"

Donghyuck stiffened at the mention of the event that happened and his eyes darted to Mark, who wasn't paying attention to their conversation, but instead seemed quite interested by the piece of egg on his plate.

"What do you want to talk about?" Donghyuck replied, knowing that they were going to have to clear everything out sooner or later. He wasn't going to be able to ignore them forever, and especially since this problem required them to speak to each other.

"You know we all love you right?" Sicheng said, tightening his grip on Donghyuck's thigh. "We didn't know you think we don't, or that we treat you any differently than the dream members."

Donghyuck sighed at the words. That was obviously going to be their answer to it. He had already heard it from everyone, but it didn't sound genuine. They all had said sorry to Donghyuck for pushing him away and in a matter of a few days they were back at it again, slightly avoiding Donghyuck, and only when they wanted a hug did they allow it.

"Mhm." Donghyuck hummed, feeling his heart ache as he looked up at Sicheng and weakly smiled. _There's no way to fix this_. Donghyuck thought, as he looked away from Sicheng and back at his food. They weren't understanding what Donghyuck meant. He didn't just want a sorry, and then some random hugs now and then. He wanted to be treated the same way they all treated the dreamies. He wanted to be loved by them.

The 127 members all did this unintentionally. Donghyuck had debuted with them, so they all treated him as if he was extremely mature, and although he was in fact younger than both Jeno and Renjun, who they treated like kids.

The Dream members, on the other hand, had grown up with Donghyuck, and so, they treated him equally. They used to shower him with love, and hate, for all the things he did, since they knew he wasn't getting that from the other group.

"So do you forgive us?" Doyoung asked from across the table, snapping Donghyuck and Mark from their trances. Donghyuck bit his lip and kept his eyes on the table. As much as he wanted to say yes, and tell them that it was all okay now, and that he was going to believe them again and trust the fact that they were going to not push him away. He couldn't.

"No." Donghyuck said, licking his lips as he felt them get dry due to stress and then stuffed his face with his food, quickly getting up from the table. As he tucked the chair in, he caught Mark looking up at him with guilt. "I'm sorry."

With that, Donghyuck spun around and starting walking away, feeling his body heat up from nervousness. He knew he was going to have to forgive then one day or another, since they were a group, and they needed to trust each other, and make sure their team work wasn't doing to be destroyed. However, today was not that day.

And honestly, Donghyuck couldn't see that day being anywhere close.


	12. 11. support from the dreamies, and finally an interaction

Jaemin opened the door to the dream dorm, and Donghyuck stumbled in, grabbing Jaemin's hand and walking over to the sofa, collapsing onto it. As soon as Donghyuck did this, Jaemin knew he was sad and climbed onto the sofa with him, throwing a leg over him and pulling him into a hug.

"What's up?" Jaemin asked, cupping Donghyuck's face in his hands and then brushing away the hair that fell over his eyes. "Did something happen?"

Donghyuck lifted his head up even more than before so that he could stare at Jaemin for a few seconds. He sighed and then snaked his arms around Jaemin's waist, bringing him closer until their bodies were completely tangled.

"I had a fight with the members." Donghyuck said, lowering his face and tucking himself beneath Jaemin's chin. "Specifically with Mark hyung."

"Mark hyung?" Jaemin pulled away and looked down at Donghyuck. Mark never got angry at him, so he was confused. How frustrated was Mark that he yelled at Donghyuck.

"Yeah...He asked me why I was being so cold, and what my problem was." Donghyuck explained, allowing Jaemin to shuffle down and meet his eye level. "I told him that it was because of the way they treated me, and he called me a child."

Jaemin scrunched his nose up and then sighed.

"You aren't." Jaemin stated, shaking his head and not breaking eye contact. "This is a genuine reason to get upset, you aren't a child."

Donghyuck closed his eyes and then sighed again. He was unsure about what Jaemin said. What he had done was childish, but it might've also been the only way he could've gotten them to change their ways.

"I don't know what to do." Donghyuck finally said after a couple of minutes that were filled with silence. Jaemin was about to speak, when Jeno entered the room and climbed on top of Jaemin and Donghyuck, managing to push Jaemin off the sofa.

"Continue ignoring them." Jeno replied, putting his hands on Donghyuck's. "First of all, yes, I was against this at first, but after hearing what you said, this seems like the best option. Second of all, they need to learn their lesson properly. Third of all, they don't deserve your forgiveness that easily."

Donghyuck blinked a few times, nodding along to what Jeno said. Jeno was, in fact, against this plan of being affection-less towards the members, since he had said that it wouldn't have any affect, but instead might cause problems, which it kind of did. However, he didn't like the idea that Donghyuck was sad over the behaviour of the other members towards him. He didn't think the other members actually deserved his love, since they clearly didn't want it after all the rejection.

"But what if it causes more problems?" Donghyuck asked, looking at Jeno with large eyes. Jaemin peered over Jeno's shoulder and pouted when he saw Donghyuck's sad expression.

"Haechan." Jeno whispered, leaning forwards and placing his forehead on Donghyuck's, and he looked at him straight in the eye. "You have us. If anything happens, just remember we're here."

Jaemin smiled at Renjun, who was hiding behind the door to the kitchen with Chenle and Jisung, then gestured for them to come and join them. The trio wobbled in and sat around the sofa, glancing over at Donghyuck as they switched the TV on.

Donghyuck smiled as he saw the members trying to take care of him and offer him comfort.

If things didn't work out with the other group, at least he had the dreamies.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


☀️  
  
  
  
  
  


Donghyuck pulled his leg out from Jeno's grip and then sneaked out of the dream dorm. He knew the hyungs were going to get worried about him, or at least he hoped they would, and so he was going back to his dorm. 

As he entered the building, he saw that the light to the living room was still on. Donghyuck frowned and tiptoed towards the door of the room, and leaned forwards, poking his head through the opening. He saw that all the members, except for Mark, were sitting there, staring into space. 

Deciding to mind his own business, Donghyuck pulled his head back to leave, but ended up hitting it on the door and creating a loud noise. The hyungs all shook back into consciousness, and then turned to the door. Their eyes widened as they saw Donghyuck trying to sneak out whilst clutching onto the back of his head in pain.

"Donghyuck!" Jaehyun exclaimed, jumping off the sofa and running over to Donghyuck, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "We need to talk."

Before Jaehyun could continue, Donghyuck muttered a, 'No hyung', and then escaped his grip, running over to his room, even though he was sharing it with him. When he got in, Donghyuck slipped into more comfortable clothing and dropped his shirt to the floor. He then sat on his bed and put his head in his hands. 

He wanted to talk to the hyungs about what had happened, but at the same time he didn't, since he knew they weren't going to understand, and he was scared that they might snap like Mark. And he didn't want any one else to get angry at him, the same was Mark was.

"I'm tired." Donghyuck whispered to himself, sighing into his hands and then lying backwards, breathing softly as the cold sheets touched his warm body. "I'm so tired."

Donghyuck kept repeating the same words, not realising that hot tears had started flowing from his eyes. His hands began to get wet and his sobs got louder, until he heard himself and then covered his mouth shut.

"Hyuck..." Donghyuck's eyes snapped open, and he quickly sat up, searching around the room to find the source of the voice. "I'm here."

A hand reached out from behind Donghyuck, and pulled him into the bed. Donghyuck gulped as he stared at the chest that was covered by a large red shirt. He raised his head slowly, hoping that it wasn't who he thought it was, and then held his breath as he made eye contact with the person.

"Mark hyung?" Donghyuck said, in a questioning tone. His voice cracked as he spoke and he sniffled a little, making Mark frown. Without any response, Mark grabbed Donghyuck's arm and pulled him into a hug, wrapping his arms around him and placing his forehead on Donghyuck's.

"Sleep." Was all Mark said, before Donghyuck felt the sleep he had missed from the previous day's, and the headache from crying caught up with him. His eyelids felt heavy and he closed them, feeling Mark's arms around him tighten and his breath blow over his face. Just before falling asleep, Donghyuck heard Mark say something, but couldn't quite make it out.

Mark looked at Donghyuck, the tears in his eyes trying to escape, but his will was stronger. He licked his lips and then whispered.

"I'm sorry."


	13. 12. Empty beds and Bath thoughts

Donghyuck woke up to find the right side of his bed empty. His arms were layed out in front of him, which suggested that Mark had slipped out only a while ago, and the sheets surrounding it were still warm. Donghyuck sighed and then lay on his back thinking about what had happened last night. Mark had weirdly enough volunteered to stay in bed with Donghyuck, but wasn't he angry at him? And why hadn't Donghyuck pushed Mark away?

"Donghyuck." Jaehyun said, sitting up in his bed as he realised the other had woken up. "Why was Mark in your bed?"

The hyungs had all thought Mark had fallen asleep as soon as they reached the dorm from the airport, but he was actually in Donghyuck's bed. Why? Only Mark knows. Donghyuck glanced over at Jaehyun and shrugged his shoulders, before getting up from his bed and making his way to the bathroom.

He stripped his clothes and then sat down in the bath tub, which was filled with warm water. Donghyuck brought his knees to his chest and took a deep breath, liking the way the water was soothing his sides. He closed his eyes and couldn't stop his mind from wandering off to the thought of how close Mark's face was last night.

"Holy shit I cried in front of him." Donghyuck spoke out loud, opening his eyes as he came to a realisation. It wasn't the first time he had cried in front of Mark, it was actually the 4th.

The first time was before debuting. Donghyuck was so exhausted with the training program, and had been planning to simply give up, since the pressure was too much. Of course, he wasn't the only one going through all of that. Everyone was. And that's why no one had the energy to comfort him. But Mark did. He sat next to Donghyuck and ran a hand through his hair, whispering the fact that it was okay for him to cry out his problems.

The second time was once they had debuted, and Donghyuck had gotten into a fake scandal. He ended up crying all night, since many fans had decided to not stan him. The members were also giving him odd looks, unsure whether or not he was telling them the truth, as the "evidence" the fan had provided seemed too real. Mark, being the only one to feel the need to do so, climbed into Donghyuck's bed and brought his head to his chest, patting his head and telling him to sleep.

The third time Donghyuck had cried was actually because of Mark. They had been quietly arguing about how Donghyuck had been making too many flirtatious remarks in front of the camera, and how it could make the fans get the wrong idea about their friendship. The arguement went on and on, and the anger built up in Donghyuck, finally getting released as tears. Mark was taken aback by the fact that Donghyuck had just broken down in front of him, because of him, and immediately apologised, making a mental note to never do anything like this again.

There was a knock on the door, and Donghyuck shook his head realising that he had been in the bath for a really long time now. As he lifted his leg, the water dropped from his body onto the bathroom tiles, and he pulled a towel closer to himself. He dried himself as much as he could and then threw over his head a hoodie and slipped into some sweatpants.

Donghyuck opened the door and walked past Jaehyun, who glared at him for taking too long. He then made his way to the kitchen, looking around to find that everyone had already gone to practice and sighed. He picked up a snack bar and then left the dorm, climbing into one of the cars and asking the driver to drop him off at the SM building.

Upon arrival, Donghyuck opened the door and held his arms close to his body, feeling the cold air around him tickle his neck. He grabbed one of the hats that had been abandoned in the car and pulled it over his head, sighing as he felt warmer than before. Donghyuck walked over to the practice room and opened the door, poking his head in to check who was here and who was at the cafe, to see that everyone was there.

"You're sharing the practice room with WayV." The manager said, as soon as he saw Donghyuck enter the room and turn the lights on. "Don't disturb them." He narrowed his eyes when Donghyuck shrugged his shoulders and gave a small smirk.

The door behind Donghyuck, which he had entered through, opened again and a pair of arms wrapped themselves around Donghyuck's waist, and then he was lifted off the ground. The smile of Donghyuck's face on widened as he got spun around and then placed back to the floor.

"Haechanie! It's been so long!" Hendery exclaimed, turning Donghyuck around by the shoulder and pulling him into a hug. The two laughed as Yangyang also jumped into the hug with Xiaojun.

Although Donghyuck had only met the three around 5 times, they were on pretty good terms. Donghyuck hadn't got to meet the during their training time, since he had first gotten busy with dream and 127 promotions and then gotten into an injury. When he finally got to meet them, a a few weeks later, they went on to do WayV promotions. Nonetheless, their friendship was still strong.

"Damn, I don't see you for what, 3 weeks, and you guys get this hyped?" Donghyuck laughed, pulling away from the hug and then glancing over at the other members.

They were standing in shock, watching at they interacted. They had never seen Donghyuck actually talk to them, since he got shy near new people, and another reason they were shocked was because Donghyuck looked so happy with them. And they hadn't seen him be this happy for a while.

"Who wouldn't get this hyped to meet you?" Lucas said, pronouncing some words wrong but still holding his typical confident smile over his face. Donghyuck's smile got larger as he continued to speak to them all. He was, in fact, very awkward with them at first. Stealing glances at them as he admired how good looking they were, until they finally pointed it out, and complimented him as well.

"No big hug for me?" Ten frowned, tapping his foot impatiently as he watched the group continue talking without looking back at the others.

Donghyuck turned to him and raised his eyebrow.

"Oh I'm sorry Mr. I-do-not-like-Hyucks-aegyo, I only give hugs to people who fully accept me." Donghyuck shook his head and sighed when Ten huffed.

He reached forwards and brought Ten into a hug. Before he pulled away, Ten kept his grip tightened and tilted his head slightly, so that his lips were next to Donghyuck's ear.

"Are you upset?"

There it was. Donghyuck expected this. He knew that Ten was the only person who could read through his smiles, and know exactly what was wrong with him, before he had even said it. Donghyuck sighed and then looked at him with a pout.

"I'll tell you later."

The members then split up, and Donghyuck ignored the looks he was getting from the 127 members whenever he spoke to the other group. Donghyuck couldn't really tell if the looks were of confusion or sadness, and if Mark was even looking his way at all.


	14. 13. Ten's a psychic

"Alright. Explain."

After practice had ended, Ten had immediately dodged Johnny's arms, although he really wanted to hang out with him since they hadn't spoken to each other for the last few months, and grabbed Donghyuck's waist, knowing his priorities. He lead him through the hallways and then pushed him into a car, not caring at the confused and slightly shocked stares he was getting by the other members.

"It's not much but, I basically ignored the members." Donghyuck started, moving his hands around to explain the situation. "They all said sorry, and I forgave them by the way." Donghyuck said, leaning forwards to emphasise the fact that he was nice and forgiving. "But then they returned to their normal ways pretty quickly. Mark hyung got annoyed, since I hadn't really made up with him yet, and he ended up yelling at me—"

"Wait Mark yelled at you?" Ten raised his eyebrow. Donghyuck sighed, as he had seen the same reaction just yesterday from Jaemin. "Okay okay, continue."

"So then I told him why I was so upset—"

"Why were you upset?" Ten asked, and then out his hands up to defend himself as Donghyuck sighed again, more aggressively, and ran a hand down his face.

"Because they didn't accept any of my affection, and treated me like shit from time to time." Ten's eyes widened as he heard this, and then questioned why Donghyuck wasn't ignoring him, only to remember it's most probably because he always redeems himself with hugs. "He then got angry and called me a baby and told me, indirectly, that he liked the other dreamies more than me, because they weren't as childish as me."

Ten nodded and then took Donghyuck's hands in his own. "Hyuckie, you know they love you right?"

"Whatever." Donghyuck said, leaning back in his seat, before getting back up and shaking his head. "But that's not what's got be like this. Mark hyung was in my bed last night—"

"Donghyuck!" Ten screamed, causing the driver to flinch and grip onto the steering wheel more tightly. Ten threw his hands up and then covered his ears. "You're too young and innocent for that, plus I don't want any details, at least not right now and here!"

Donghyuck paused and looked at him weirdly, not understanding what he meant. Then it finally hit him and his face burst into flames. He let out a loud laugh, ignoring the way the driver glanced into the mirror, and then slapped Ten's arm.

"That's not what happened." Donghyuck hissed, still smiling from before however. "Mark hyung was laying in my bed before I was there. I then started crying, and he pulled me into a hug, and helped me sleep. When I woke up, he was gone. I have no idea why he was there...I'm so confused."

Ten nodded and then put his hand on his head, scratching it as he tried to think of an answer. He had spoken to Mark multiple times about Donghyuck before. He knows about all the times Donghyuck cried, and how Mark had handle it, and so he knew that Mark was the only one he ever actually broke in front of.

"Listen." Ten said, shifting on the seat and putting his leg up and wrapping his fingers around his ankle. "It's obvious that Mark cares for you. It may seem as if Mark, and the other members, don't like your affection, but it may be because it's been such a long time you've been behaving like this with them, that they're unable to get out of this habit?"

Donghyuck nodded and then gestured for him to continue.

"I'm guessing it only took about 3-4 days before the members slowly started acting the same way as they did before?" Donghyuck nodded again, eyes widening as he listened to Ten attentively. "You must've returned to the same way you used to treat them, and the absence they felt when you left them got filled. This made them also switch back to their old selves."

"Oh." Donghyuck tore his eyes away from Ten and looked at his lap. Whatever Ten said made sense, like it always did. He knew just what to say. He managed to narrate the while story without even knowing any explicit details. "Thank you hyung, but what should I do?."

"Honestly." Ten sat up and looked at Donghyuck straight in the eye. "Talk to them properly."

Donghyuck leaned forwards and pulled Ten into a hug as the car came to a stop. He then opened the door and turned around one last time before waving at him and leaving the car. When he opened the door to the dorm, the members were still not home, so Donghyuck walked over to the kitchen, whistling as he opened the cabinets in hope to find some junk food.

He started to hum and then broke into a whole song, singing the high notes on point. Donghyuck scrunched his nose up and he continued to sing and put some food into the microwave, smiling to himself as he watched the door heat up.

Once it was done, he picked the plate up and turned towards the door, freezing as soon as as he saw someone leaning against the door frame.

"Hey Hyuck." Mark said weakly, smiling at him with sadness clearly plastered over his face. Donghyuck felt a pang in his heart and he bit the inner part of his cheek as he saw Mark blink slowly. "Can we please talk?"

Donghyuck curled his toes and tightened his grip on the plate. He looked at the ground, kicked his lips and then took a deep breath. As he looked up, he saw how Mark's eyes dulled more than before as Donghyuck hesitated.

"Please, I just want to talk." Mark repeated, moving forwards, stumbling as he did, reaching over at the kitchen counter to stabilise himself.

Donghyuck gulped and then put his plate back onto the counter. He had lost his appetite.

"Okay hyung." Donghyuck finally said after a few more moments of silence. "Let's talk."


	15. 14. Lets talk

Mark sat down on Donghyuck's bed, and the mattress beneath him sunk down. Donghyuck joined him, but sat a quite a distant, still not feeling comfortable with sitting with him, although they were basically hugging last night.

"Donghyuck, first of all, I'm sorry." Mark started, looking down at the blanket and playing around with his fingers. "I know that's most probably not what you want to hear, but I am truly, very sorry."

Donghyuck glanced at him and then looked back at his lap. He couldn't exactly trust Mark's apology, especially since the other members had uttered the same few words, but ended up reverting back to their old ways within days.

"I'm really sorry for shouting at you." Mark continued, grimacing as a memory of Donghyuck's face came up. "What I saw at that moment was all stupid. I don't mean any of it! What you did was not childish, and it's understandable why you were mad at me and the others. I'm really sorry."

Donghyuck closed his eyes as Mark kept repeating the fact that he was sorry. Of course he wanted to accept the apology and go back to the way they were, however he really wanted Mark to change. Fix his ways.

"I came to a realisation." Mark gulped, bringing his hands over to Donghyuck's, which were laying on his lap. "I realised that I felt so annoyed these 3 months that you ignored us. I would tell the other members some jokes and they wouldn't even understand it. They would just give me odd looks and then fake laugh in attempt to console me. I would try to sit with you, or even kind of hug you, but you would then move away, or go to a different member and cuddle with them. I never felt that hurt, I guess, or even that angry. I only felt that way when you were not with me, or talking to me."

Mark remembered how Donghyuck had not been able to attend any events because of his injury, and he had spent his time telling jokes to Jungwoo and Yuta, who just smiled at him and pretended to like the jokes. Whenever Donghyuck was around, he would either tease Mark for making bad jokes, or actually laugh with him. Somehow, everything Mark did was a lot more fun with Donghyuck.

"But then I realised that I had in fact, been doing the same thing to you for the past 3 years, or even more than that." Mark confessed. "When we were trainees, I used to accept your affection, or even just your want for attention, but then as soon as we debuted, I...I slowly started to push you away without realising. And I... I'm really sorry for that, I really really am."

Mark gripped onto Donghyuck's hand and squeezed it. Donghyuck finally raised his head and looked at Mark, immediately moving forwards to wipe the tears that had started to roll down his cheeks.

"Mark hyung—"

"No wait." Mark pulled back and sniffled wiling his tears and holding a hand towards Donghyuck. "Let me finish. The reason I started to push you away was because I saw things fans posted about us. They called our friendship something even more deeper, and I got scared. I got scared that what if you read it? And then things get awkward between us. I honestly didn't want that, so I pushed you away, and it started to become a bad habit that I developed. And now I regret it so much."

Donghyuck had, of course, seen what fans posted about Mark and him. But he didn't mind it, in fact, he found it cute, the way fans interpreted their actions in so many different ways. He was actually quite happy to see that fans had noticed the fact that him and Mark were close friends.

"You know I didn't mind that stuff." Donghyuck whispered, not knowing if he should speak loudly as Mark's tears were still rolling continuously. "I would never change the way I treat you because of some posts fans make. You know that right?"

Mark looked at Donghyuck with guilt and squinted his eyes, feeling even worse than before.

"Hyuck, I'm genuinely so sorry." Mark said, shuffling forwards and looking at Donghyuck with expectant eyes. "I know you won't believe me if I just say it, so please, give me another chance to show you that I can be a better friend."

Truth be told, Mark was already a good friend. He used to comfort Donghyuck whenever he needed it really badly, and would even apologise after making the smallest insult towards him, just to make sure he didn't hurt the other. However, he did reject Donghyuck a lot, telling him to not be so clingy, yet do the same with others, and allow them to as well.

"I can't just say yes Mark hyung." Donghyuck replied, trying to look away from Mark, since the distant between them had shortened greatly. "What if you do the same thing the others did? I'm tired of all of this. I really just want to rest and not stress over the fact that the members are going to push me away every single day, yet treat each other with respect and love. It's tiring."

Mark reached forwards and pulled Donghyuck into a hug, shoving his head into Donghyuck's chest.

"I can't apologize for what the others did." Mark said softly, still clutching onto Donghyuck's shirt, and closed his eyes. "But I'm telling you, I'll change. I promise, just please at least talk to me again. You know how boring Doyoung hyung can be."

The laugh that escaped Donghyuck's mouth allowed both of them to relax in each others arms. The main door to the dorm opened, and it's noise echoed through the silent dorm. The could hear each others breathing and Donghyuck finally sighed, and spoke.

"Mark hyung." He said, wrapping an arm around Mark's back and pulling him closer into a hug. "If you mess up, I'm genuinely going to break our friendship and never speak to you again. I still have the dreamies, don't forget."

"Ha!" Mark chuckled into Donghyuck's chest and then pulled away, the smile on his face distracting Donghyuck from the dried tears on his cheeks.

"I promise I won't mess up."


	16. 15. When Mark was smarter than the rest

Mark put his hand on Donghyuck's cheek and pushed away the strand of hair that fell over his eyes. As he got rid of it, Donghyuck's mouth twitched into a small smile, which caused Mark to do the same. However, he immediately frowned as he felt his heartbeat fasten when Donghyuck shuffled closer to him. He didn't know what the weird feeling was when Donghyuck softly threw his arm over Mark's body and tangle his legs with him. It was something new. Something he hadn't felt before.

He pulled his head back to get a clearer view of Donghyuck and sighed. After the good hour of crying and apologising to each other, the two finally calmed down and settled on Donghyuck's bed. Since they were tired from practice and crying, all they wanted to do next was sleep.

Donghyuck fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow, and although Mark was extremely tired, his body wasn't letting him fall unconscious. He kept on heating up randomly, somehow it happened whenever Donghyuck got closer to him, or when Donghyuck smiled in his sleep.

Mark hadn't felt this weird feeling before. Maybe once, when they were at the beach, but other than that, never. Weirdly enough, it happened to only be there when Mark was with Donghyuck. He didn't know what was going on with his body, or if he had become allergic to Donghyuck. Whatever it was, it was making Mark feel weird and he wasn't exactly complaining.

Donghyuck stirred in his sleep when Jaehyun opened the door to the room and stared at them with shock. Out of all the people he had imagined Donghyuck would make up with first, Mark wasn't even in the top five. Jaehyun raised his eyebrow when Mark leaned over Donghyuck and put his finger to his lips, telling him to be quiet.

"Is he sleeping?" Jaehyun whispered, walking over to them and kneeling besides the bed. Mark nodded and watched as Jaehyun brought his hand to Donghyuck's cheek and caressing it.

"When are you going to apologize properly?" Mark asked, sitting up in the bed, causing Donghyuck's arm to drop from him and his leg to slide back onto the mattress. Mark climbed out of the bed, instantly regretting it when the warmth coming from the blanket and Donghyuck disappeared.

"What do you mean apologize properly?" Jaehyun questioned, following Mark out to the living room. When they entered, the rest of the hyungs were scattered across the room. Some on the sofa, whereas others were sitting on the ground. "We already said sorry, but he still didn't believe us."

Mark groaned and ran a hand down his face, getting annoyed at the fact that he was just as clueless as them a few hours ago. He pushed Jungwoo, who was shaking his head at this conversation, since he already knew what was wrong, and sat down besides Taeyong.

"You guys said sorry, but then indirectly did things to push him away." Mark tried to explain. He then started quoting the stuff Donghyuck has said to him a while back and saw how everyone's face dropped as they listened. Of course everybad thing they did was unintentional, but even if it was, they should've known it would affect Donghyuck to some extent.

"What do we do?" Johnny asked, genuinely not knowing how to fix the situation. The others nodded in agreement as they turned to Mark for help.

"You all are so clueless." Mark said, eyes widening as he stared at them with disappointment. They weren't able to figure out why their friend was upset with them, and still had no idea how to fix things between them.

Mark had, obviously, not only told the hyungs to talk to Donghyuck, but told Donghyuck to also communicate his feelings more clearly, and not hide them away and use a different, more confusing, method in attempt to get them across. Donghyuck first tried to argue by saying that his method wasn't that hard to understand, since he had changed his way of speaking and behaving, and it was pretty obvious Donghyuck was upset and wanted to talk about it. But then finally came to a more neutral understanding that it was in fact not only the hyungs' fault, but his as well, since he should've been more clear.

"Literally just talk to him." Mark said, finally after a few minutes if watching everyone exchange looks of confusion and worry. "You need to talk to him, and let him tell you about all the things he's upset about, and what he wants to change."

"But we already did that." Doyoung said, leaning forwards on the armrest of the sofa, looking up at Mark and frowning. "We spoke to him, let him speak about his feelings, but still ended up going back to square one."

"Exactly." Mark pointed at Doyoung and then to the others present in the room. "You all spoke to him about it, and as soon as he started giving you all hugs and returning back to his normal self with you, all of you started to take it for granted again, and pushed him away without realising, _again._ "

"Oh." Was all Doyoung had to say.

"Also were you not listening when Donghyuck spoke about how you guys don't treat him the same way you treat the dreamies?" Mark continued, remembering how Donghyuck yelled at them because of him. "Just because he debuted with us first, doesn't mean he isn't still the same age as Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin. I've seen the way you guys willingly hug them and let them hug you."

"But that's because they don't do it all the time." Yuta said, scratching his neck awkwardly. "Sure I love Donghyuck, but sometimes his forceful hugs can get annoying, and that's why I push him away."

"He only does it because you _push him away_." Mark leaned back on the sofa and crossed his leg. "If you accept it, then he wouldn't be so forceful."

"If we accept it." Taeil interfered, sitting up in his seat and turning to Mark. "Then he would think it's alright to hug us all the time, and then we wouldn't be able to get him off us. But if we don't accept it, then he would continue to annoy us."

"Listen." Mark sighed, standing up from the sofa and walking over to the door. "You need to speak to Donghyuck about all of this. Telling me the fact that you don't like his hugs, or that you do like him the same way as the other dreamies, won't change his mind. You need to speak to him, and him alone."

Mark turned around and opened the door, swiftly passing through it and closing it quietly. He then went down the hallway and back into Donghyuck and Jaehyun's shared room. Without wasting any time, Mark climbed back over Donghyuck and slipped into the sheets. Donghyuck's hand somehow ended up thrown over Mark again, and their legs got tangled.

Donghyuck smiled in his sleep, and Mark stared at his face, also smiling. He raised his hand and pat his face before snuggling into the pillow and closing his eyes.


	17. 16. The others finally speak

"Haechan, can we talk?" Johnny asked, grabbing ahold of his arm and pulling him backwards. Donghyuck turned around and was about to decline since he was too nervous, but then Mark shot him a look from behind Johnny, and Ten's words echoed in his mind.

"Yeah... let's talk." Donghyuck replied, sighing as he let Johnny drag him across the room and onto the sofa. Mark, who was the only member there other than the two, got up and left to give them some privacy.

"Mark told us why you were so upset." Johnny started, already feeling the guilt of the stuff Mark had said on his shoulders. He always thought that his relationship with Donghyuck was one of the strongest ones out of everyone in their group. They had a father and son like relationship, since Donghyuck loved to tease him because of his height and age.

"Oh, he told you?" Donghyuck nodded and then glanced at the door Mark left through. He was kind of appreciative that Mark had done that, especially because he had explained his side of the story so many times, that it was getting tiring now.

"Yes." Johnny sighed and reached over to grab Donghyuck's hands. "And I'm so sorry for ever treating you in a way you weren't happy with. I should've known that you felt this way. I'm really very sorry Donghyuck."

Donghyuck smiled softly as he heard Johnny say sorry. Of course he knew that Johnny was telling the truth when he was speaking, since he only said his real name during serious matters, and he knew that Johnny was feeling bad about everything, but he was still scared. Scared that he would still revert back to normal like last time.

"And I know I've said this before." Johnny took a deep breath and continued. "But when I say it this time, I really mean it. If I ever do anything to hurt your feelings ever again, please tell me about it. Don't hide your feelings alright? I can't read your mind, or your actions if you suddenly change them."

Donghyuck nodded and looked down at his lap. He was still worried, but he knew he had to forgive Johnny one day or another. It would be best if that day was today.

"Yeah yeah hyung it's okay." Donghyuck smiled, letting Johnny lean forwards and wrap his large arms around Donghyuck's body. He unconsciously melted into Johnny's hug and closed his eyes. Donghyuck let of a long sigh and then pulled away. "Don't mess up."

"I won't." Johnny returned the smile and then got up to leave. Donghyuck watched him go through the door and leaned back in his chair, only to sit back up when Doyoung waddled in.

"We need to talk as well."

This was going to be a long night.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


☀️

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


After a few hours of talking with all the hyungs, Donghyuck had finally come to the conclusion that they had all practiced some sort of speech before meeting him. It was hilarious seeing them all stutter a couple of times, then pause and continue speaking. They used a few words that Donghyuck was so sure they didn't know until then.

"Finally." Mark said, when he saw Donghyuck enter his room at around 3 am. "They should've let you sleep and finished in the morning."

Donghyuck rolled his eyes and then pushed Mark, climbing into the bed. He stared at Mark, who was sitting up on his bed and writing in his note book with a dim light.

"You know." Donghyuck said, making Mark stop writing and turn to him. "Your eye sight gets worse if you read stuff in a dark place."

Mark sighed and then reached over Donghyuck to put his notebook away. He then shuffled down on the bed and put his head on the pillow.

"Why are you in my bed by the way?" Donghyuck asked, moving back slightly when Mark turned to him and their noses nearly touched. Mark ignored Donghyuck's question and closed his eyes. "Oi, I asked why you're here."

"If you don't want me to be here so badly, I'll leave." Mark quickly said, starting to get up, but Donghyuck threw his arm over him and pushed him back onto the bed.

"So dramatic." Donghyuck muttered, leaving his arm to rest over Mark's, and then discreetly moved forwards in the bed. "You think the hyungs would be able to keep their promises?"

Mark stayed silent for a while, and honestly that freaked Donghyuck out a little, but then Mark placed his hand on Donghyuck's cheek and chuckled quietly.

"Hyuck, they're going to keep it. Don't worry." Mark whispered, as he stared at Donghyuck dead in the eye.

A long silence passed by them, and all they could hear was the noises of animals outside their window. The curtains were pulled to the side and some light was shining through. Mark saw how Donghyuck's eyes basically sparkled because of the moonlight and he unknowingly licked his lips. His eyes wandered down Donghyuck's face, and then widened as he realised what he was looking at. The cheek he had his hand on started to heat up, and he snapped his eyes up to see that Donghyuck had started blushing.

As if he was trying to use the moment, Mark inched forwards every second until their noses were touching. Mark closed his eyes and Donghyuck followed, both of them not knowing what they were doing. Donghyuck arm that was touching Mark's back slowly pulled Mark towards him and as they got closer, they heard the door make a loud noise and then open.

Donghyuck jerked his arm back and Mark pulled his hand off Donghyuck's, turning in the bed to lay on his back and then sit up. Jaehyun walked into the door, bowing slightly to apologize for waking them up, and then dropped onto his own bed.

Mark took the blanket off himself and said a small "Goodnight" to Donghyuck before dashing out the room. Before Jaehyun could ask why Mark left, Donghyuck flopped back onto his bed and pulled the blanket to his face.

He thought back to how close Mark was and couldn't stop his heart from fastening.

"Oh my god." He breathed out, licking his lips as they got dry. "Why did he do that?!"


	18. 17. For once Mark thinks

Mark Lee was not gay.

Or at least so he thought. Ever since he was younger, he never actually had the time to develop feelings for anyone. And so, that resulted in him never having a crush, or even thinking of a girl, or guy, in that way. Mark always minded his own business, and tried to stay away from people in his school, except for his handfull of friends. Girls were always away from him, since he had to keep up his image as an idol, and he never really thought of guys in another way.

However, after what happened last night, Mark was freaking out. He had no idea why he did it that. Actually, he did. But he just didn't want to accept it. He couldn't believe that he might be attracted to his best friend, who he's pretty sure isn't into him. Mark had just fixed things with him, and didn't really want to make anything awkward, yet he had done it last night.

"Mark." Doyoung said, tapping Mark's shoulder continuously. "Wake up, we're having breakfast."

Mark had been trying to fall asleep the whole night, but failed to do so since he couldn't stop thinking about what would happen with him and Donghyuck. When the sun rose, he was still awake, thinking about it.

"I'm up." Mark muttered, sitting up in the bed and rubbing his eyes, trying to get rid of the sleep that was now overtaking him. He got up and wobbled over to the bathroom, quickly exiting once he was done.

Mark made his way through the hallway and could hear noises in the kitchen. He poked his head in and saw Donghyuck giving Taeyong a back hug. Taeyong had a massive smile plastered over his face as he mixed the meat in the pan. Donghyuck was talking to him with his chin on his shoulder, slowly swaying Taeyong from side to side.

"Morning." Mark said, entering and walking over to the fridge to get some water. Donghyuck and Taeyong replied, and then continued their conversation.

"But hyung." Donghyuck said, pouting as Taeyong sighed again. "Tropical juice is superior."

Mark raise this eyebrow at the conversation, but rushed out of the room as soon as Donghyuck made eye contact with him. He felt nervous when Donghyuck's eyes were on him. Mark needed to clear out whatever he was feeling, and so, he reached out for the person he knew would be able to help him with this, or at least he hoped.

"Jungwoo hyung!" Mark said, sitting onto the sofa and pinching Jungwoo's cheek. "I need help with something."

Jungwoo took one look at Mark's stressed face and immediately had an idea about what it could be about. He knew that soon Mark would start to feel something towards Donghyuck, especially because of how close they were getting.

"Donghyuck?" Jungwoo asked, after telling Taeil to leave the room for a while. Mark nodded and then Jungwoo continued. "So, what's up?"

"I nearly kissed him last night." Mark said, and then instantly covered his face as he thought back to how embarrassing it was. Jungwoo's eyes widened and he burst out into laughter. "It's not funny!"

"Okay okay." Jungwoo took a deep breath and then spoke again. "Did he push you away? Or did he like go on with it and then push you away?"

"He actually went on with it, but then we both pulled away when Jaehyun hyung walked in on us." Mark explained, covering his cheeks with his sweater paws. "I feel so embarrassed, oh my god. I can't stop thinking about it and I can't stop feeling nervous around him."

"Calm down." Jungwoo said, putting his hands on Mark's shoulder to calm him down, and stop him from rambling on. "So, it's clear you like him, and?"

Mark paused and turned to Jungwoo with confusion.

"But all I did was try to kiss him." Mark said, frowning and then putting his hands on his cheeks to hide his embarrassment once again. "Wanting to kiss someone doesn't mean I like like them right?"

Jungwoo face palmed and then stood up, walking over to the door to leave. Mark whined and pat the seat next to him again, but Jungwoo was already out the door. Mark sighed and shook his head. Donghyuck entered the room and flashed Mark a smile, before going straight for the remote and switching the TV on.

"Taeyong hyung is nearly done with breakfast." Donghyuck said, surfing through the channels and then closing the TV when nothing interesting caught his eye. "You look sick, did you not sleep well?"

Mark snapped his head away from Donghyuck and brought his hand to his face. He knew he looked sick, since he could see through the mirror that he had dark eye bags and pale skin, but he didn't think it would be this obvious.

"Uh yeah, couldn't sleep." Mark said awkwardly, shuffling on the sofa and trying to casually lean on the armrest. "I look kinda horrible haha."

"Actually." Donghyuck stood up and walked towards Mark. He leaned forwards and put his hand besides Mark's head on the sofa and smirked. "You look kinda hot."

Mark's ear burst into a red shade and his eyes widened. Donghyuck noticed it and winked, causing his to redden even more. Before Mark could say anything, Donghyuck spun on his heels and made his way to the door.

"I should go help hyung out." Donghyuck said, opening the door. "You know, with the food."

As soon as the door closed, Mark jumped back on the sofa and let out a loud groan. He placed his hand on his chest and tried to calm his heart beat.

"He called me hot." Mark said, staring up at the ceiling, as his breathing got slightly unstable. "He says that all the time though...calm down Mark...you're just overreacting."

Mark shook his head and then closed his eyes, immediately regretting it as he imagined Donghyuck's face close to his own.

"Oh my god!" Mark tilted to his right and fell onto the sofa, stuffing his face into a cushion. "I can't stop thinking about it. But then again, Donghyuck seems quite alright with it. Maybe it doesn't effect him as much..."


	19. 18. Donghyuck's side

To say that Donghyuck was not affected by what Mark and him had nearly done last night, would be a lie.

He was internally dying.

After Mark left, Donghyuck was unable to keep his cool. The memory of Mark laying next to him, and because of the heat through the sheets, Donghyuck kept on thinking about how Mark was so close. His breathing was so warm, and was blowing in Donghyuck's face. His lips were slightly tinted a shade of red because of the lip gloss he had on earlier the day. He was so close.

"Until Jaehyun hyung entered." Donghyuck said out loud, rolling his eyes as he thought back to how Jaehyun entered. "Wait." Donghyuck sat up in his bed and slapped his own cheeks. "Stop thinking like that."

Jaehyun raised his eyebrow at Donghyuck and then shook his head. He closed his book and then placed it to the side. Jaehyun climbed off his bed and walked over to Donghyuck, frowning when he saw that Donghyuck's face had a panicked expression on it.

"What's up Hyuck?" Jaehyun asked, sitting besides Donghyuck, who was now holding his head in his hands and shaking it continuously. "Why are you so panicked and scared looking."

Donghyuck looked up at Jaehyun and shot him a worried look. He then shuffled on his bed to get closer to Jaehyun and grabbed him by his collar, bringing Jaehyun's face right next to his.

"Hyung!" Donghyuck whispered-yelled, eyes widening as he said the next words out loud. "I nearly kissed Mark hyung!"

"What?!" Jaehyun shrieked, causing Donghyuck to let go of his collar and push him away, which resulted in him dropping onto the floor with shock. "How! When! Where!"

"It was-" Donghyuck started, already jumping up in his end and was about to tell him when it was, but then Johnny burst into the room and rushed to Jaehyun, who was currently still on the floor.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Johnny began to bombard Jaehyun with questions, moving his arms around to check if he was hurt. "Why are you ok the floor? Why is Donghyuck red? Okay... wait.. why are both of you red?... Oh my god."

"No!" The two screamed, face palming as Johnny stared at them with shock because he misunderstood the situation. Donghyuck sat up straight on the bed and turned to Johnny.

"He fell because I told him that I nearly kissed Mark hyung." Donghyuck explained, again, more casually than before.

"What?!" Johnny copied Jaehyun's reaction and put his hands on his cheeks and squishing them together, making it clear that he was not exactly surprised by this. "When?"

"It was-" A knock on the door which was already wide open, interrupted Donghyuck and he groaned loudly, turning to see who had stopped him and glaring at them. "Alright who else is going to stop me?"

"Oh sorry." Taeyong apologized and then turned around to leave, only to be stopped by Johnny yelling out the fact that Mark and Donghyuck nearly kissed. He spun on his heels and hit the door with his palm, staring at Donghyuck with wide eyes. "What?! When!"

"Wow." Donghyuck laughed, seeing the three sit besides his bed. "You all reacted in the same way... anyways, it was last night. We were going to kiss, but then Jaehyun hyung entered."

"Oh what the fuck." Johnny turned to Jaehyun and shoved him to the side roughly. "Well done, you ruined their moment."

"It's not my fault." Jaehyun frowned, pushing Johnny back and then turning to Donghyuck. "So what does this mean? You guys like each other? Did Mark confess before trying to kiss? Did you confess? If you confessed, I swear to god, this is why I respect you-"

"No no." Donghyuck raised his hands and waved them. "None of us confessed, we just kinda went for it."

The hyungs nodded and then discussed about it for a while with him. They were all amazing advice givers and Donghyuck pretty much trusted them with everything. Donghyuck asked them what to do, and all the replied with was, "Just be you, a confident person."

And so, here Donghyuck was, standing in front of the door to the living room where he could hear Mark and Jungwoo speaking. He blushed when he heard Jungwoo tell Mark that he most probably likes him.

Donghyuck, of course, had a very small crush on Mark. It was more like a lot of respect for the guy, that it could be easily mistaken as a crush. Although he loved teasing Mark, he also liked to show his appreciation, through love.

"Oh." Jungwoo said as he closed the door behind him and stared at Donghyuck for a few seconds, before smiling widely and patting his back. "Good luck."

Donghyuck thanked Jungwoo and then entered the room. He smiled at Mark, and internally died when he saw Mark bit his lip and then sat besides him on the sofa. He picked the remote up and spoke a little to Mark.

He didn't know what was going through him, when he got up and called Mark "hot." It was quite a pleasing sight, seeing Mark's face turn red, his breathing hitch and sweat start to form around his neck, not that Donghyuck was looking there.

"I should go help hyung out." Donghyuck said, trying his best to leave before he began to blush as well, which didn't really matter since his skin was dark, and he was able to play off a blush quite well. "You know, with the food."

He quickly closed the door and let out a sigh of relief. Donghyuck was about to leave when he heard Mark speak to himself. He attached his ear to the door and licked his lips.

"I can't stop thinking about it!" Donghyuck heard Mark said out of frustration. A smile crept up his face and he let go of the door, with a proud expression. He knew he could fluster Mark easily, so he didn't need to worry much about that, but he didn't realize he could get flustered by small things Mark did either.


	20. 19. Wow

Donghyuck had touched Mark's butt at least ten times in three concerts, not that Mark was counting. Whenever they would perform 'Touch', Donghyuck would make it his mission to tap Mark's butt and cause him to get flustered in stage and nearly forget his lines. Of course, Mark being Mark never messed up, but Donghyuck still tried.

Mark would glance over at the cameras that were pointed at the two and stiffen whenever Donghyuck would touch him. He would put his arm around Mark, hit his butt, lean on his shoulder. It had been a while since fans had seen Donghyuck be so affectionate, so they were going crazy. The fear Mark had previously, where he was worried Donghyuck would get weirded out by the fans' imagination, was long gone, and he was actually accepting his hugs in public.

The group members were surprised when they saw that Mark had willingly chosen to sit next to Donghyuck in the flight back to Korea from their latest destination. They weren't surprised, however, when Mark half way through the flight asked if he could change seats because of Donghyuck's loud snoring.

After the near kiss and time when Donghyuck called Mark 'hot', they returned to normal, except Donghyuck was a lot more flirty. He was holding Mark's hand randomly and then reaching over to kiss his cheek, only to obviously get shoved to the side with a laugh.

"You're cute." Donghyuck said, whilst pouting and staring at Mark. They were on a stage for one of the music shows and Donghyuck was literally facing Mark instead of the fans. "Now call me cute."

Mark rolled his eyes and then whispered a small, "you're cute", before turning around to speak to Yuta. Donghyuck, feeling very victorious, spun on his heels and slapped Johnny's arm, only to get hit back.

"So." Johnny tugged Donghyuck's arm once they got off the stage and led him to one of the private dressing rooms. "What's up with you and Mark?"

"Nothings changed." Donghyuck shrugged his shoulders and then slouched. "And to be honest, I haven't really been doing anything. Just simple touches and stuff."

"Come on!" Johnny sighed, placing his hand on Donghyuck's shoulder, accidentally causing him to get pushed down. "You know Mark's the type that never understands things properly. You gotta be the one to, you know... initiate it?"

Donghyuck stared at Johnny with a blank expression before sighing. He knows that Mark would probably not understand what Donghyuck feels towards him unless he says it. And yes, Donghyuck had acknowledged the fact that he is, indeed, kind of, slightly, maybe in love with his best friend, but it might be respect and he's still a little scared about admitting it completely but has decided to somewhat accept it.

"What're you guys doing here?" Mark asked as he poked his head into the dressing room. Donghyuck and Johnny snapped their head towards him and glared, indicating that they want him to leave. He put his hands up to defend himself and then quickly left the room.

"He's so weird." Donghyuck said, keeping his eyes on the door that had just closed. Johnny laughed at his comment and said something about how Donghyuck's weirder.

"Well, good luck." Johnny said, walking towards the door and leaving Donghyuck alone.

Donghyuck sat down on one of the chairs that spin and looked up at the ceiling. He only had 2 weeks before he left to promote with the dreamies, and he was most probably not going to meet Mark much during that time, since he liked staying over with the dream members during promotions with them. He frowned when he remembered that Mark wasn't going to be with them and pouted.

"But he still annoys us when we're recording."

Although Donghyuck used to stick his tongue out whenever Mark guided him when he sung, and told him that he made a mistake whilst singing, he really appreciated it. And when Mark would be a killjoy and try to calm the dream members when they would dare each other to jump off the roof and land on a balcony, Donghyuck appreciated the fact that he used to care about them and act like a proper leader.

"Wow, I respect him so much." Donghyuck chuckled, jumping off the chair after spinning multiple times. He held the wall and walked over to the door, feeling dizzy because of the spinning. When he opened the door, Mark was standing in front of it, getting ready to knock.

"Oh." Mark said, blinking a few times and bringing his hand down. "Donghyuck, come get changed."

Donghyuck nodded and followed Mark through the halls into the main dressing room, where the rest of the members were. Once they changed and took all of their makeup off, they climbed into the cars and let out a long and deep sigh.

"Two concerts left guys." Taeyong said, making everyone in the car sigh again. Mark turned to Donghyuck, who was slowly leaning onto his shoulder, and smiled softly. He raised his hand and pushed Donghyuck's head gently down. The two smiled to themselves and Mark stared out of the window. The passing by lights in the dark sky helped him calm down, because his heart was beating _way too_ fast. Even though Donghyuck had slept on his shoulders many times, it still made his heart race.

Mark tilted his head to face Donghyuck again and narrowed his eyes when he saw Donghyuck wide eyed and burning up.

"Hey, you okay?" Mark asked, bringing his hand up to Donghyuck's cheek, before removing it quickly when it came in contact with the hot skin. "Woah, you're really warm, what happened?"

"Nothing!" Donghyuck lied, shutting his eyes and trying to get rid of the memory. Whilst Mark was looking out of the window, Donghyuck glanced up and caught Mark licking his lips and smiling. It wasn't much, but it caused Donghyuck to panic and remember the almost kiss. After thinking back to that, he began to day dream about Mark's lips. Thinking about how soft they would be, and how they would taste. Once he realised what he was thinking about, Donghyuck got flustered and was unable to calm down.

"Uh.. sure?" Mark blinked away and rolled his eyes when he saw Jungwoo wiggling his eyebrows at the two. He diverted his attention back to the window and let his mind wander. He had been trying to figure out his emotions, and the way Donghyuck was acting towards him was making his feelings go wild. Whenever he would look at Donghyuck do something cute, his stomach was twist and he would unconsciously smile, and then proceed to say that he was actually cringing. "Oh wait."

Mark's eyes widened as he came to a realisation. He looked down at Donghyuck, who had now successfully fallen asleep, and blinked multiple times.

"It can't be..."

Well, at least now Mark Lee knew he was gay.


	21. 20. oh

Lee Donghyuck did not appreciate the fact that he only had one week left with the 127 members, and Mark Lee was not answering his calls. He liked teasing Mark by calling him whilst he was doing a live, but Mark didn't even answer his calls. He picked up Jaemin's call, but not his. Donghyuck was not jealous, just annoyed that his best friend was basically ignoring him.

And so Donghyuck set out on his mission to make sure to get Mark into his bed, for a hug, by the end of the day. He saw the way Mark swayed from left to right when they walked into practice, and how Mark could barely keep his eyes open when he finished recording. So, Donghyuck wanted him to properly relax, and knew that Mark was only able to relax the most, when he was laying down in a bed, with Donghyuck.

"Hyung." Donghyuck called out from across the room, accidentally getting everyone's attention. "Oh wait sorry, Mark hyung."

Everyone else looked away and Mark slowly got up from his seat, wobbling over to Donghyuck. He plopped down besides Donghyuck and leaned over at him, tilting his head and looking up at him with big eyes.

"What is it?" Mark asked, sighing when Donghyuck shuffled a little away to face him, and his head dropped slightly.

"You're tired, so why aren't you resting?" Donghyuck questioned, frowning when he saw Mark gulp and shake his head in disagreement. "Hyung, you can barely stay awake, you're unable to walk, you need to rest."

"I'll rest when promotions are over, until then..." Mark had his eyes closed, which resulted in the sleep he had missed for the past few days to wash over him. His head kept falling forwards and Donghyuck quickly dipped beneath it and raised it with his shoulder. Donghyuck rolled his eyes when he saw Mark jerk up and run a hand through his hair. "Until then, I'll practice."

Before Donghyuck could say anything else, Mark got up from his seat and walked over to the rest of the group, who were now discussing the choreography for one of their previous songs.

Donghyuck groaned loudly and then joined them after a while. They reviewed some of their old work and then practiced it. Once they had, obviously, perfected it, the managers told them to go home and sleep. Mark volunteered to stay back and continue practicing, but Johnny slapped his back and laughed it off, dragging him out of the practice room and towards one of the cars.

The drive back to the dorms was filled with small conversations talking about the things they had done in practice. Donghyuck kept his eyes on Mark, who was nodding along to everything, even though whatever they were saying was going over his head.

Finally, they reached the dorm and everyone stumbled out, quickly making their way to their own respective rooms. Donghyuck's original plan was to shower, and then force Mark to sleep. But hunger got in his way.

"Want something to eat?" Donghyuck asked Mark, as he made his way to the kitchen. Mark nodded and the followed his trail, looking at the ground since sleep was just round the corner.

"You don't have to but..." Mark started, taking a seat next to the counter and putting his elbows on it. "If you are, then yes."

"You know I'll always make food for you." Donghyuck replied, taking out some food and already getting started. Ever since they were trainees and it was only them two in a dorm, Donghyuck would make food for Mark and himself. It first started out as a favour, so Mark would have to pay back with something, but then ended up as a habit, and every time Mark was hungry, he would go to Donghyuck.

"Yeah...thanks." Mark smiled to himself and then put his chin on top of his palm, leaning onto the counter. He watched as Donghyuck walked from one side of the kitchen to the other, cutting stuff and mixing things that Mark had no idea they even had.

"Eat well." Donghyuck said, passing a bowl of rice and chicken to Mark, and then taking his own and sitting next to him. They ate in silence, and even washed all of their plates. Donghyuck dried the last plate and placed it in the cabinet, only to turn around and see the fact that Mark had already left. "Mark hyung?"

Donghyuck went through the halls and into his own room. His bed was empty, and Jaehyun was asleep in his own. Donghyuck frowned and then climbed into his bed, pulling out his phone to message Mark.

**Haechannie** : Mark Lee where are you?

  
**MarkiE** : why do you call me mark lee?

**Haechannie** ; because I don't like calling you hyung 

  
**MarkiE** : wow

**Haechannie** : now answer my question. Where are you?

  
**MarkiE** : in my room, where else would I be?

**Haechannie** : come to my room so we can cuddle

  
**MarkiE** ; idk I'm not really in the mood to cuddle. I just wanna sleep alone. Sorry hyuck

**Haechannie** : urhhrhf aight night

  
**MarkiE** : night

Donghyuck put his phone away and sighed. His mission to make Mark sleep in his bed failed, and now Donghyuck was sad since he wanted to hug someone. He looked to his left at Jaehyun, who was currently tucked in his bed with no way to enter the sheets, and then shook his head. Donghyuck got up from his bed and began to make his way to the person he knew would always be up for a hug. He reached the door and then raised his eyebrow. Donghyuck leaned forwards and heard some quiet chatter from the other side of the door.

"Who's Jungwoo hyung talking to." Donghyuck asked to himself, bringing his hand to the door handle and gripping onto it. He slowly opened the door and poked his head in, freezing in his spot at what he saw.

"Hyuck?"

Before anyone in the room could say anything, Donghyuck slipped through the door and ran back to his room. He could hear his name being called from behind, but at that moment, he didn't want to speak to any of them. Donghyuck stumbled towards his bed, throwing the blanket over his face and shutting his eyes tight.

"I thought Mark hyung didn't want to sleep with anyone tonight..." Donghyuck whispered to himself as he heard the noises outside his room. The voices got quieter until they finally finished.

A memory of what Donghyuck saw in the room flashed in his mind and he frowned. When he entered, he saw Jungwoo neatly tucked in his own sheets, close eyes but still talking. Besides Jungwoo, was Mark, who had his leg thrown over the taller and his hands brought up to his face. Although Donghyuck knew that there was no weird intention behind the hug Mark was giving, and the pinching of Jungwoo's cheeks, it still hurt Donghyuck. He now found out that Mark had in fact lied to him, and that Donghyuck was most probably not special when Mark tried to kiss him.


	22. 21. Last stage

Donghyuck woke up and groaned as he remembered what happened last night. He knew he shouldn't be making such a big deal out of it, but because of the stupid crush he now had on his best friend, he couldn't stop his mind from thinking about every bad thing possible. The alarm on his phone still had another hour before it rung, and no one in the dorm was even awake. Donghyuck brought a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes. He looked around his room and thought about what he could do, but instead decided to remain in bed.

As Donghyuck lay in his bed, he thought about every Mark related incident he had in which his heart beat faster than normal. He then started to wonder if Mark even felt the same way. A few days ago he had come to the conclusion that Mark did in fact have the same feelings as him, because of how red Mark would get because of him, but now, he wasn't so sure. Why else would Mark lie to him and not just tell him the truth?

"Why are you awake right now?" Jaehyun, who had been woken up by the loud creaking of Donghyuck's bed, said. He sat up and turned to Donghyuck, glaring at him for waking him up at such an early time.

"I don't know." Donghyuck replied, also sitting up and then getting out of bed. He watched as Jaehyun fell back into his bed and immediately went back to sleep, pouting since he couldn't do the same, and then made his way to the door. If he couldn't sleep, at least he could do something productive. "First, a shower."

Donghyuck went into the bathroom, taking the clothes he found in the clean laundry area and then turned the shower on. He thanked the fact that he had chosen his own underwear, grimacing as he remembered he once wore someone else's and then had to return it. Donghyuck then frowned when he realised that he had picked Mark's clothes from the laundry. He was going to switch them, but then thought it might seem weird if he was to not accidentally pick up something of Mark's, since it had now become his habit to do so.

The water cooled Donghyuck down, and he finally got rid of all his thoughts. He stood under the water and let his hair pat down onto his face. A few minutes later, the bathroom started getting steamed up, so he quickly closed the tap and shuffled towards his clothes.

Once he was got dressed, Donghyuck left the bathroom and checked to see the time. He had a good 30 minutes before everyone else woke up, so he quickly began to make breakfast. The sound of alarms going off and loud groans were heard, and Donghyuck smiled at it. After a while, the doors opened and half asleep members strolled out, bumping into each other as they made their way to the bathrooms.

They all took their time before sitting down at the table and silently eating the food Donghyuck had made for them. Mark stole glances at Donghyuck and then at Jungwoo, who was gesturing at him to talk.

"Donghyuck-" Before Mark could say anything, Donghyuck stood up and swallowed the last bit of food he had left on his plate. Completely ignoring the fact that Mark was going to speak to him, Donghyuck walked over to the kitchen and started cleaning it up. They were going to have their last concert before Donghyuck went on to do promotions with dream, so they all got ready and left for the practice room.

The entire journey was awkward. The members who had no idea what happened last night were simply staring at the large distance there was between Donghyuck and Mark. The ones who did know, which were Jungwoo, Yuta and Taeil, kept nudging Mark to speak up to Donghyuck and tell him why he lied to him last night.

"Not now..." Mark replied, bitting his lip and pushing away Yuta's outstretched arm. He stared at the window and then thought back to the conversation he had had with Jungwoo last night. He wasn't sure if Donghyuck would understand what it was about, or even accept it, but maybe it was time he found out.

"Come on." Johnny said, patting Mark's shoulder and telling him to leave the car. Their practice didn't last long, since they had first of all, woken up very late, and second of all, taken too long to reach the place. The light began to dim and the members got pushed into the dressing room to get ready.

"You're going up in 5!" One of the staff members announced, causing everyone to hurry up and start fixing their clothes.

Mark sighed when he saw Donghyuck walk past him without even taking one look at him. He quickly turned around and grabbed Donghyuck's arm, jerking him backwards.

"We need to talk Hyuck." Mark said, not letting Donghyuck protest and dragging him out of the room. The members watched them exit and then let out a deep breath.

"Hope they fix things."

"Okay. Now what?" Donghyuck asked once Mark came to a stop. He folded his arms and leaned back, so that Mark would know he isn't interested.

"What you saw last night-"

"I don't care about what happened." Donghyuck immediately cut him off and unfolded his arms, turning around to walk away. Mark angrily stomped forwards and grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around and stopping him in place, right in front of him.

"The reason I lied to you was because I was scared!" Mark said, shutting his eyes and lowering his head, since he didn't want to see Donghyuck's reaction to the next thing. "I was scared that if I stayer close to you for any longer...I would end up kissing you."

"...eh?" Donghyuck froze and raised his eyebrow, bending down slightly and see Mark's face. "Why would you do that...?"

"Because Donghyuck!" Mark snapped his head up, barely missing Donghyuck's and spoke again. "Because I was worried that you don't like me the same way I like you! I went to Jungwoo hyung to speak to him about you, and how I was unable to think properly because I'm so in love with you! I was only pinching his cheek because he told to me to confess to you otherwise he would do it for me, and I just... got scared."

Donghyuck blinked a few times, trying to understand what Mark had just said. His mind had stopped working as soon as he heard Mark say he was in love with him. Mark stared at Donghyuck's shocked face and squinted, suddenly remembering what he had just blurted out.

"Mark hyung I..." To say that Donghyuck was not nervous and shocked at the same time would be quite a big lie, because to be very honest, he was internally dying. The person he wanted to confess to had just done it and he hadn't been able to function it yet.

"You don't have to reject me... I know the answer." Mark sighed, as his arms dropped to his side and he quickly followed the group of members who had just left the dressing room, to the stage. Donghyuck licked his dry lips and then shook his head.

He turned around and ran towards Mark, quickly tilting his head to the side so that his mouth would be next to Mark's ear.

"I like you too."

And before Mark could react, Donghyuck slipped past him and ran onto the stage, with most probably the biggest smile he's ever had.


	23. 22. It finally happened

Donghyuck put his hand on Mark's waist and pulled him closer, stuffing his face into the back of his head. He smiled as he remembered how Mark slapped his arm once they got off the stage at the concert. Mark hit him a few times, with that stupid smile of his, laughing at the top of his lungs, unable to believe the fact that Donghyuck also liked him. The members congratulated Mark for being brave enough to confess to Donghyuck, and then shook their heads at the fact that it wasn't Donghyuck who did it.

"You're going to the dream dorm today, aren't you?" Mark asked, keeping his eyes close and placing his hand over Donghyuck's. It was finally morning and the day before Donghyuck would have to perform at a music show. And so, Donghyuck was planning to move into the dream dorm for the time being.

"Yeah." Donghyuck replied, raising his head slightly to get a view of Mark's face. "Are you gonna miss me?"

"Miss you?" Mark scoffed, playfully pushing Donghyuck away and turning around in the bed. "Ha, I'm happy you're going away, I'll finally get time alone without anyone annoying me."

The two smiled at each other and broke out into laughter, ignoring the groans they heard from Jaehyun, who was also awake and able to hear everything they were talking about.

"Anyways, I should get up and pack my stuff." Donghyuck said, pulling his hand away from Mark's and climbing out of the bed to make a bag of his stuff. When he reached his closet, he pulled out a few hoodies and began to stuff them into a bag.

"Mine, mine, mine." Mark pointed out every time Donghyuck put his clothes into a bag. "You really only wear my clothes huh?"

"They're comfortable." Donghyuck shrugged his shoulders, hiding his smile because the real reason was actually that Donghyuck liked the way Mark dressed, and just liked wearing his clothes. "Make me breakfast."

Mark groaned and forced himself out of Donghyuck's bed. He tripped on his way to the door and cursed at Donghyuck's shoe that was in his way. Once he was out, Donghyuck quickly put his stuff away before leaning over at Jaehyun and whispering a small, "Bye".

It wasn't as if he wasn't going to see the members, but he wasn't going to be with them as often, like always. Although they shared the same practice room, they were all going to be busy with their own work. Half of the 127 members were going to be doing a small NCT life show and the others were most probably going to stay at the dorms for a while.

"Bye bye.." Jaehyun replied, poking his hand out of his blanket and waving at Donghyuck, who was now closing the door.

When Donghyuck got out of his room, he saw Mark struggling to flip a pancake on the stove. He dropped some batter on the side of the saucepan and then let out a loud whine, shaking his head and jumping on his spot. Donghyuck smiled at the scene and then walked over to him, forcefully taking the handle and fixing what Mark was doing wrong.

"I tried." Mark said, putting his hands up and then leaning on the kitchen counter, eventually climbing onto it and swinging his legs softly.

"Yes yes, thank you." Donghyuck replied, taking the pancake off the stove and into a plate. He repeated the process and then joined Mark on the counter. They ate the food, talking about the most random things. Mark saw that there was only one pancake left, so purposely ate really slowly, so that Donghyuck would take it. "Make sure to stream our video."

"Of course I will." Mark said, pulling his phone out and showing the fact that he had downloaded all the streaming apps, and was ready for the comeback. "I didn't even get a chance to hear the song whilst you guys were recording."

"If you picked up my calls, maybe you would've heard it." Donghyuck rolled his eyes, jumping off the counter and putting the plates into the sink. "Anyways, I'm gonna go now."

Mark nodded and then followed Donghyuck through the halls, looking down at his feet and sighing. He wasn't going to be able to meet Donghyuck or speak to him much, since Donghyuck would be busy with promotions, and Mark would be busy with another activity he was given.

"We can still text." Donghyuck said, reading Mark's sad expression. Honestly, he was also pretty upset that he wasn't able to spend more time with Mark, especially since they had just confessed their feelings and started dating secretly. "Plus, I'm just a few roads down from here, I can always visit. I'm not leaving forever!"

The two laughed and then moved towards the door. Donghyuck picked up the small bag of clothes he packed and then put his hand on the door. He closed his eyes and then took a deep breath. Mark tilted his head to check if the door was locked, and that was why Donghyuck was taking to so long to exit.

"What happened?" Mark asked, shuffling closer and peering over Donghyuck's shoulder.

"Mark hyung." Donghyuck stood up straight and then turned around, eyes widening at the small distance that was between him and Mark. "I wanted to ask..."

"Ask what?" Mark raised his eyebrow, confused as to what Donghyuck would be asking now. Donghyuck nervously licked his lips and then reached forwards and placed his hand on Mark's arm. He pulled him forwards and put his head on Mark's shoulder, feeling blood rush to his cheeks.

"Can we um..." Donghyuck gulped and then tightly shut his eyes again, unable to control the heat he was emitting. "Can we kiss?"

"..." Mark stood in silence, jaw dropping as he heard Donghyuck's request. His face turned into a light shade of red, before going darker every second. Donghyuck shook Mark's arm for an answer and then raised his head to see Mark's reaction. When he saw how shocked he was, he decided to use the opportunity, and fulfil his own wish.

Donghyuck leaned closer to Mark, who immediately closed his eyes, not knowing what else to do, and softly held onto Donghyuck's shirt. They lips touched and they both took a few seconds to allow the tingly cold feeling in their blood to calm down. Once it did, they pulled away and smiled shyly.

"I..I'll see you later." Donghyuck replied, lowering his head to hide his smile. Mark stuttered a few times before accidentally yelling a goodbye to Donghyuck, who began to laugh loudly since they heard one of the members curse at Mark. "Next time, you're making the pancakes."

"I'll try to." Mark chuckled, watching as Donghyuck ducked his head down and ran through the rain and into the car that was waiting for him at the entrance of their front garden. He waited until Donghyuck was seated before closing the door. When he turned around, he saw Taeyong leaning against the wall and smiling at him. "What're you smiling about?"

"Nothing." Taeyong replied, blinking slowly before pushing himself off the wall. "Anyways, if you mess up with Donghyuck, know that there will be 20, and more if you include tizennies, people ready to beat you up."

"Woah calm down hyung." Mark said, following Taeyong into the living room. "Also, tell Hyuck the same thing."

"I already have." Taeyong said, dropping onto the sofa and leaning back on it. He had told Donghyuck on the way back to the dorm that he shouldn't mess up with Mark, otherwise the members would not hesitate to beat him up. He remembers how Donghyuck smirked and called it a challenge, before instantly shaking his head and saying that he wasn't going to ruin anything.

"Oh." Mark nodded and then walked back to his room, wanting to get his sleep back. He climbed into his bed and then brought the blanket to his nose, unable to control the large grin he had plastered on his face.

"With me, Donghyuck will never feel the need to go affection-less again."

**《 end 》**


	24. special chapter :)

"You're going to fail." Jaehyun commented, rolling his eyes and then scoffing as Mark dropped onto Donghyuck's bed. Ever since Donghyuck had disappeared to the dream dorm, Mark had started sleeping in Donghyuck's bed, mostly because it was much more comfortable than his own, and because he read in some book that by sleeping in someone else's bed, you fall asleep quicker. It was definitely not because he was missing Donghyuck.

"How are you so sure?" Mark asked, stuffing his face into the pillow and spreading his limbs across the bed, tangling himself with the sheets. "I'm confident."

"Ha ha, so funny!" Jaehyun laughed sarcastically, and then looked back down to his phone. Mark was annoyed, because Jaehyun didn't believe in him. After Mark told him that he was going to try his best and fluster Donghyuck in public, Jaehyun only laughed, like the other members, and shrugged the idea off. Mark didn't understand what was so funny, all he was going to do was be all lovey with Donghyuck to see him blush for once.

"I'll show you." Mark grumbled, shutting his eyes and then immediately falling asleep, thankfully managing to not hear the taunts Jaehyun gave from across the room.  
  


-☀️-

"Just be lovey." Mark mumbled to himself as he watched Donghyuck tighten the tie on his suit. It was finally ISAC again, and as much as Mark had hoped that Donghyuck would be on the archery team with him, resulting in more time spending with him, he wasn't. Instead he was a floor MC, and Mark didn't understand how he got the role but didn't really care because he was so proud of him, which meant that they won't be able to spend much time together. 

Before Mark could do anything, like go up to Donghyuck and greet him properly, Donghyuck yawned and hurried out of the door, holding a few pieces of card with script written over then. Mark internally groaned as he realised he missed his first chance, but believed he could redeem himself sometime throughout the day.

The group got called out, and Mark glanced down at the paper attached to him which read 'NCT 127'. He chuckled to himself as he remembered how people kept joking around about the way he shot the arrows last time. Truth be told, Mark had his contact lenses in, but could still not see anything, so shot with guesswork and actually managed to get a decent score.

He also remembered how Donghyuck had called him up the next morning and laughed at the top of his lungs at the expression Mark had made. He didn't understand what was funny, but if it made Donghyuck gasp for air because of laughter, he was glad he did that.

"Haechanie!" Johnny yelled from besides Mark as Donghyuck appeared on the large screen. The cameraman clearly liked Donghyuck, since he zoomed into his face, and Mark couldn't help but smile at the confused and nervous expression Donghyuck had. As much as Donghyuck boasted around and said that he was confident, he got nervous quickly. 

  
"Whoo!" Mark cheered Donghyuck up as he stuttered through some speech and then laughed it off. Mark raised his hands and then wiggled them, his smile got even wider as he locked eyes with Donghyuck, who quickly looked away to stop himself from smiling as well.

"He looks good in a suit." Jaehyun commented, nodding his head as Doyoung agreed with him and then Johnny joined them. Mark shot them a look, to which they replied with a, 'not in that way dude'.

After a while, Donghyuck walked out of the cameras view and jogged down the area, making his way to the members who were seated on the floor. They weren't tired, just bored and looking for a way to pass time quickly.

"Hey." Donghyuck said as he passed by Mark and then stood next to Jaehyun. The members quickly shuffled closer to him and then bombarded him with questions. "Woah guys calm down, one question at a time."

"Where are you going now?" Doyoung asked, seeing how a member of staff had gestured for Donghyuck to quickly join them.

"Changing my script and then back out of speak again." Donghyuck replied, and then turned to Mark. "Good luck with archery by the way." He winked before jumping back to leave again.

As he waved at them, he definitely saw the way Mark heated up by the action, and Jaehyun elbowed him, laughing about how his plan had already failed. Mark huffed before bringing his hand up to his cheek, scratching it as he thought of different ways to approach Donghyuck.  
  


-🍉-

Mark watched as Donghyuck waved at the fans, feeling a smile creep up to his face. He walked forwards and then raised his foot, hitting Donghyuck's butt with it and then proceeding to act as if he wasn't the one to do it. The way Donghyuck's lips parted and a small gasp escaped them made Mark's heart do flips like they've never done before. 

"You're needing unusually clingy." Donghyuck pointed out as Mark chose to stay next to him whilst the others walked around, trying to find a new place to sit as their previous one had been taken.

"Is it weird?" Mark asked, glancing at Donghyuck and then at the camera filming them from a few feet away. Donghyuck laughed before shaking his head and holding his hand out, signalling for Mark to do their handshake. As they did it, the screams from the fans were enough to encourage them into doing more. "Let's do the choreography you taught me."

Mark enthusiasm caused Donghyuck to just smile even wider, and quickly turned to the fans, who were already watching them with anticipation. Donghyuck started the count to dance and they went along to Mark's voice, humming the tune.

"Well done child." Donghyuck praised, patting Mark's arm and then sitting down. "Come on, sit down."

Mark dropped to the floor almost immediately after Donghyuck said that and folded his legs, looking around. Donghyuck stared at Mark as he spoke about how boring things were at the dorm without him, so he leaned forwards. Only when Donghyuck was a few inches away from him did Mark realise what he was going to do.

"We're in public!" Mark squeaked, moving back and falling onto the ground. Donghyuck laughed and pulled away, helping Mark up as well.

"I wasn't going to kiss you." Donghyuck said, and he moved closer, bringing his hand up to whisper in his ear. "Unless you want me to."

As soon as Donghyuck said that, he made noises with his mouth and closed his eyes. Mark panicked even more and chose to just move on the floor and sit in front of Donghyuck rather than besides him.

"Stop doing that..." Mark said, feeling embarrassed when one of the guys he knows from school locked eyes with him and then laughed. 

"Alright alright Mark hyung." 

Donghyuck got up after a while and disappeared for a few more minutes until he finally came back and stood in front of Mark, who moved forwards and attached himself to Donghyuck's back. A reaction. All Mark wanted was a reaction. But instead, Donghyuck only yawned and continued to listen to what the announcers were saying, not even bothering to tease Mark about what he was doing. 

Mark huffed and then pulled away, ignoring the way Yuta snickered and poked Jaehyun to laugh with him. Mark wanted to make Donghyuck flustered. Why? Because he wanted to get revenge for all the times Donghyuck had made Mark get embarrassed in front of cameras and unable to speak. Mark sighed and then looked up at Donghyuck, who was looking at him strangely.

"You know," Mark said, putting a hand on Donghyuck's shoulder. "I'm gonna get a gold medal for you."

And without looking back, Mark let go of Donghyuck's shoulder and began to walk towards the equipment place. Somehow Mark managed to miss the stuttering mess Donghyuck had become.

-🐻🦁-

Surprisingly, yet not quite surprisingly since they had worked their butts off for this, but Mark had managed to win a gold medal, with the help of his teammates. He held it in shock, mostly because he was only joking when he said he'll get gold, and because he was actually pretty proud of himself. 

Mark and the others went into the waiting rooms where they would be photographed and then sent to cool down, and saw Donghyuck walk into one of the dressing rooms. As soon as his picture was taken, Mark pushed past everyone and went into the room he saw Donghyuck go into. 

"Hyuck!" Mark said, running into the room with his arms up. Donghyuck turned around, halfway through taking his shirt off and squeaked in surprise when Mark pulled the medal over his head. Without any warning, Mark cupped Donghyuck's cheeks and leaned forwards, already eye closed. Donghyuck's breath hitched as he realised what Mark was going to do and shut his eyes tightly.

Mark gently placed his lips on Donghyuck's and pushed softly. Donghyuck unconsciously moved backwards until his back was against the table. Although it was their second kiss, it felt a lot more better than their first, which was pretty much just a peck. Mark dropped his hand from Donghyuck's cheek and slipped it down to his waist, pulling him closer. They parted for a few seconds, both forgetting to breathe because of how in the moment they were, before leaning forwards again and connecting their lips once again.

Before they could do anything else, Johnny knocked on the door and entered, immediately yelling out loud how he had joined Jaehyun in the cockblock list.

"Sorry but we have to give out food." Johnny said to Mark, who was still holding Donghyuck (who was currently hiding his head in Mark's chest). 

"See you later." Mark said, waving at Donghyuck before leaving. A large grin was plastered over his face, and many fans mistook it for the fact that he had just won gold (and it was partially because of that), but more because of the fact that he managed to get Donghyuck flustered in a span of 5 seconds. 


	25. Special Chapter 2

"I didn't...mean to...!" Donghyuck gasped for air as Mark poked his stomach, causing him to laugh out loud again. "It was Jeno's fault!"

Donghyuck had just returned to the 127 dorm from the airport, when Mark attacked him with tickles, making him double over and fall to the ground whilst laughing uncontrollably. From what the others could make out, apparently Mark had watched the live Donghyuck had done with the dreamies, in which he nearly kissed Jeno on the lips. Although it was a joke, and Mark knew well enough that it was, he still wanted to somewhat give Donghyuck a _warm_ welcome back home.

"Are you sure?" Mark asked in a harsh (yet adorable) tone, wrapping his arms around Donghyuck's waist and picking him up from the ground, ignoring the way he squirmed around in his grip.

Avoiding the looks the hyungs gave, Mark waddled over to Donghyuck's room, opening the door with his elbow before closing it behind himself with his foot and then chucking Donghyuck onto his bed. Donghyuck's face hist the pillow and he hurriedly got up, turning to Mark with a massive smile and red cheeks.

"Yes yes, now stop acting jealous." Donghyuck rolled his eyes, and Mark slipped his shoes off, climbing onto the bed and pushing Donghyuck down so that he could hover above him. "Jealousy doesn't suit you Mark Lee."

"I mean." Mark sighed, putting his hands besides Donghyucks head and taking a seat on his stomach, making sure to not put too much weight on him by balancing himself on his knees. "My boyfriend nearly kissed someone else purposely, therefore I should be allowed to be jealous."

The word, 'boyfriend', caused Donghyuck to freeze and his eyes widened, a small blush appearing on his face, and to be honest only Mark could notice it. His reaction was always priceless when it came to that word, considering he never allows himself to get flustered in front of others (specifically Mark).

"I didn't do it purposely." Donghyuck mumbled, averting his eyes from Mark and choosing to glare at the ceiling instead. A small chuckle escaped Mark's mouth, before he leaned forwards and placed his forehead against Donghyuck's, gaining his attention.

"I'll believe you." Mark winked, his eyelash brushed against Donghyuck's and he smiled even brighter when he felt Donghyuck shift beneath him.

"Get off me." Donghyuck grumbled, raising his hands to grab Mark's, and then pushed him off himself, only to copy his position and sitting on top of Mark. "His face was close to mine, and I only turned to tease him and the fans."

"Wow." Mark pouted, staring up at Donghyuck who stared back down. "I'm gone from the scene for a few days and you're already ready to give the fans content for other ships, huh?"

"It was a joke." Donghyuck whined, lowering his head and rubbing his head against Mark's, trying to get his point across. To be honest, he knew Mark was only joking, but playing around with him after so long was fun, and he knew he wouldn't get time like this with him soon, as SuperM promotions were going to start in a few weeks.

"I know." Mark said after a while, smiling up at Donghyuck, before dipping his hands down and poking his side's, causing Donghyuck to fall over and stuff his face in Mark's neck, in attempt to somehow muffle his giggles. "You're so ticklish."

"As if you aren't!" Donghyuck scoffed, before reaching over to tickle Mark as well.

Their laughs and giggles echoed in their room, and they were pretty sure the hyungs could hear them as well, but they didn't care. They were finally meeting each other after so long, and were trying to make the best of it.

"Next time," Mark said, sighing as he caught his breath and collapsed besides Donghyuck. "Don't stay at the dream dorm, but stay here, otherwise we literally won't be able to meet up."

"If there is a next time." Donghyuck whispered, lowering his gaze and lacing his fingers around Mark's, before intertwining them.

"It's not that bad." Mark said, realising what Donghyuck said. He raised his head and allowed Donghyuck to shuffle closer and let himself get enveloped by Mark's arms. "The stress load is less, and you can rest more."

Donghyuck frowned before raising his head, accidentally knocking it against Mark's chin.

"You haven't gotten any rest after you graduated." Donghyuck said, sliding up in the bed to meet Mark's eyes. "The stress has been a lot more for you, and you've been missing out on the stuff we do. Fans are missing you, and-"

Before Donghyuck could continue, Mark leaned forwards and connected their lips, not wanting to talk more about the subject. Donghyuck knew it was something he didn't like talking about, and accidentally once even mentioned it in the live they did together (ending up in a few moments of awkward silence), but he wanted to explain to Mark why he was feeling so down although Mark already knew.

"Don't kiss me just to shut me-" Donghyuck grumbled as Mark pulled away, only to get brought back into a longer kiss. His eyes fluttered close and hands wandered up, cupping Mark's cheek, before tugging at them and parting once again. "I said don't-"

"Just..." Mark sighed, before waving his hand to say nevermind, and then turned around in the bed.

A smile crept up Donghyuck's face as he saw Mark's cheeks turn into a dark red shade whilst he was turning around. The first kiss was to shut him up. But the second was because he just wanted to.

"Alright." Donghyuck groaned, putting his hand on Mark's shoulder and forcefully making him face him. "You big baby."

Donghyuck reconnected their lips and smiled into the kiss as he felt Mark quickly wrap his arms around him. A few seconds passed before they pulled away again, only to look at each other and burst into laughter. Although they still weren't used to kissing, which was proven through the amount of times they nearly missed the others lips when they tried to, they enjoyed doing it.

"Also." Mark's eyebrows dipped down and he looked at Donghyuck with serious eyes. "The lesson we have learnt today is that you shouldn't try to tease the fans with fake kisses, because if you do-"

"Then little baby Markrie will get jealous."


	26. Special Chapter 3

"You're crazy." Johnny said, holding a hand to his mouth to muffle his laughs, unable to believe the fact that Donghyuck was actually going to do it, and excitedly turning around to tell the others about it.

Alright, so probably commenting something cute under Mark's concept post was not the best idea, especially because fans were getting more and more suspicious about them due to the way Donghyuck was constantly mentioning Mark in everything. However, this was honestly the only way Donghyuck could support his boyfriend.

The last time he met Mark, properly, was nearly a week ago, since Mark had been constantly called over to meetings and last minute alterations to some dances.

It wasn't as if Donghyuck hadn't seen Mark at all, as the two still lived in the same dorm, but Mark was normally out of the dorm by the time Donghyuck woke up. As infuriating as it was, Donghyuck couldn't blame Mark, because he wasn't the one who chose to be part of this new group, but in fact was forced. Therefore, Donghyuck could only blame the company for his lack of interactions with Mark.

"I need to show my support." Donghyuck replied to Johnny, who only tried to move forwards and stop him, because they all knew that the manager would get really annoyed once he heard that Donghyuck had commented under a post without their permission. Yet at the same time, none of the members tried too hard, knowing that this made Donghyuck happy, so they let him be.

Just as Donghyuck commented, he locked his phone, and stuffed it into his pocket, choosing to ignore all the calls he was going to get from the managers, and maybe even Mark, because he was the type to panic over small things that could cause problems or rumours for the group.

He stood up and wobbled over to the kitchen, holding a hand to his stomach as he heard it growl loudly in the empty room. Donghyuck pulled out some ingredients and began to make something for himself. Letting his mind wander, Donghyuck stared into space, thinking about what Mark must be doing at that moment.

Since Dream were given a day off, Donghyuck had decided to stay at the dorm and rest a little, maybe even catch up with shows that he had on his watch list, or sleep for a hours. But here he was, making food for himself because he was hungry, tired, and a little bored.

The door to the dorm opened, but Donghyuck didn't pay much attention to it, assuming it was either Jaehyun or Yuta, since they had gone out for the day to get some food from a restaurant that opened up nearby. Instead, Donghyuck hummed along to a song, not realising how loud he was, until a pair of arms snaked around his waist and snapped him out of his thoughts, making him squeak in surprise.

"You're really loud." Mark whispered, placing his chin on Donghyuck's shoulder and melting closer. "I could hear you humming all the way from the entrance."

"That isn't very far." Donghyuck replied, trying to play off the fact that he was extremely embarrassed. One, because of the back hug Mark was giving him, and two, because of the comment he left under Mark's post.

"For me it is." Mark said, ignoring the way Donghyuck cringed at it, before watching him pour the egg over the oil. "So what was that all about?"

"What was what?" Donghyuck tilted his head to face Mark, shooting him a confused look, although he knew exactly what he was talking about, but choosing to act as if he didn't. Mostly because he was flustered, and because he wanted Mark to tell him how he felt by it.

"You know," Mark leaned forwards, his face close enough to make Donghyuck's heart beat faster, "The comment you made."

"Ah, that!" Donghyuck laughed, turning his head away from Mark and flipped the omelette on the pan. "I wanted to support you, so I did."

"I really liked it." Mark shyly dipped his head down, burying it into Donghyuck's shoulder, causing Donghyuck to internally groan because gosh that was so cute. "The others were surprised because you had never done anything like this before, so I ended up telling them about us."

Donghyuck nodded, before switching the stove off and taking his omelette out, placing it between toast and chicken. He turned around, holding Mark's hands in his and then leaned forwards, casually placing his lips on Mark's.

"You're so cute, you know that right?" Donghyuck chuckled, seeing the way Mark blushed by the kiss.

"Shut up." Mark huffed, taking his hands out of Donghyuck's, before reaching over for the sandwich the younger had made. "You're cuter."

"What did you say?" Donghyuck held a hand to his ear and pretending as if he didn't hear him well, clearly fishing for compliments.

"I said," Mark took a bite of the sandwich, munching down on it before speaking again, "You're cuter."

"Wow!" Donghyuck dramatically gasped, his eyes widening and he stared at Mark with fake shock. "The great Mark Lee, who is supposedly the cutest human being ever, just called me cuter than him. I feel honoured."

"Oh shut up!" Mark stuffed his face with the sandwich, taking a bigger bite than before, trying to conceal his large smile and the reddening of his cheeks by eating. "You're so weird."

Donghyuck let out a laugh, before cupping Mark's cheeks and leaning forwards for a kiss again. The two closed their eyes and connected their lips, more experienced than the last few times they did. Although Donghyuck said he didn't like kissing, because of how weird it looked, he loved doing it with Mark, because it would remind him of how the two are actually together, and that this wasn't a strange dreaming he was living in.

"Oh, by the way." Mark said, pulling away and taking a deep breath, quickly planting another kiss on Donghyuck's lips before looking up at his eyes with a mischievous smile. "You might wanna make another sandwich."

And with that, Mark spun on his heels, escaping from Donghyuck's grip, and running out of the kitchen, leaving Donghyuck dumbfounded. Turning around to finally eat his food, Donghyuck's mouth parted in realisation and he immediately snapped his head back towards the door, chasing after Mark who was still in the hallway.

"Markeu what the hell!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hyuck commenting under  
> marks post is literally the cutest   
> thing ever. I want a best friend   
> like him :(


	27. Special Chapter 4

"Oh my god." Donghyuck muttered, bringing a hand over his eyes to hide his view of the screen. It was around 5am in the morning, the curtains were still pulled close, light was shining through, yet there Donghyuck was, huddled up in his blankets, all warm and cozy( clearly ready for the winter), and watching his boyfriend majestically run across the stage with his shirt half-unbuttoned. And no, Donghyuck was not jealous, just extremely embarrassed."Mark Lee cover yourself."

Donghyuck continued to talk to himself, as he didn't really have anyone else to talk to at the moment, reason being it was early morning and the others had their priorities in check (which was having a healthy sleep routine). The screen's bright blue light was no longer affecting Donghyuck, since he grew immune to it a few moments after he turned it on, but the things being displayed were causing heavy impacts to his heart. And no, he was not jealous, just flustered.

The video ended, and Donghyuck let out a deep breath, sliding the phone out of his hand and staring up at the ceiling, his heart still beating rapidly (and he knew that wasn't a good thing, but it just kept fastening every time Mark crossed his mind).

"Let me call him." Donghyuck smiled to himself, bring his phone up to his face and scrolling through his contacts, hurriedly tapping on one named, "Beloved Adorable Mark Lee Minghyung hyung lio—" (the rest was cut off because there wasn't enough space left in the box).

After only two bells, Mark picked up the phone immediately yelling a, "Morning Donghyuck!", and panting as if he had just run a mile. The voices in the background, and the snickers from Ten and Baekhyun, confirmed Donghyuck's assumption of Mark being in a practice room.

"Hey." Donghyuck replied, smiling as he heard the background noise get quieter and quieter as the seconds passed. Mark came to a stop and let out a sigh, running a hand through his sweaty hair and then down his face, trying to get rid of all the exhaustion in his body, so that he could talk to Donghyuck without any trace of tiredness.

"What're you doing up so early?" Mark asked, taking a seat on the floor just outside the back of the building, glancing around to make sure no fans were there. "Isn't it around, 4am? You should be getting all the rest you can get."

"It's 5." Donghyuck corrected, shuffling down on the bed and placing the phone between his ear and the pillow, letting his hands fiddle with each other, as his mind wandered off. "I watched a fancam."

"You did?" Mark didn't sound surprised, and that was made quite obvious by the way he dragged out his words with a smile evident in his voice. Donghyuck silently laughed to himself as Mark started lecturing him about how important sleep was, and then telling him about how he had heard the exact same thing from Lucas the other day, whilst they were both in the middle of an all nighter, munching on snacks.

"You looked sexy." Donghyuck suddenly interrupted, and nearly burst out laughing if it wasn't for his dorm mates being fast asleep, because the way Mark squeaked into the mic, dropping his phone and then stood stood still with shock, that was priceless.

"What- Donghyuck, can you repeat that?" Mark mumbled, his voice barely managing to be heard through the deep breaths he was taking, trying to calm his nerves.

"You looked sexy." And Donghyuck is quite surprised that he heard the same sound echo in his ear once again, and then the loud thudding of a phone hitting the ground, and then Mark collapsing besides the phone in a dramatic manner. "Hello? Mark Lee?"

"Hey, yeah- sorry." Mark coughed out, his breathing still unstable and his shaky voice making Donghyuck smirk, satisfied with the impact he made (although Mark made a similar one of him earlier.) "I just feel uh- embarrassed."

"You didn't seem embarrassed when your shirt was flying off your chest." Donghyuck said in an annoyed tone, acting as if he was actually pissed at Mark for shamelessly showing off his chest (because that was only for Donghyuck to see). This was all an act. He totally wasn't jealous that others got to see something so special and private.

"Wait," Mark laughed, rushing to place a hand over his mouth before speaking again. "Are you jealous, Hyuck?"

"Jealous?" Donghyuck scoffed, rolling his eyes and turning in the bed, guiding his phone to follow, and glaring at the spider web hanging in the corner of his room. "I'm Lee Donghyuck, Mark, I don't get jealous."

"Aw," Mark cooed and Donghyuck could almost feel hands on his cheeks pinching them, a habit Mark picked after hanging out with Jungwoo too much. "Donghhyuck-ie is jealous."

"Don't flatter yourself Mark." Donghyuck replied, hoping the way he stuttered slightly (which Donghyuck blamed the stupid nickname for) went unnoticed, and then raised his head to check if Jaehyun had woken up -which he hadn't, thankfully.

"Oh come on." Mark moved around a little, and the distracting rustling noise created by the wind finally stopped, suggesting that Mark had now gone indoors, which was a cold reminder to Donghyuck that the latter was busy and wasn't going to be able to talk to him for the whole day. "Just admit it."

A few moments passed, and Donghyuck savoured every second of it, clinging onto them because he knew he wasn't going to talk to him for another few days or so. He opened his mouth, let out air before inhaling sharply and whispering a, "I'm jealous Mark Lee."

Mark didn't reply for a while, and he guessed it was because the elder was most probably not expecting him to admit his defeat so quickly, but then he spoke up again, softer than the whiny tone he was speaking to him with previously, "Don't be jealous Fullsun."

Although the sun was rising, the members were stirring awake, and chatter was echoing through the dorm, Donghyuck felt a strange sense of relief wash over him, forcing his eyes shut and his mind to slowly start turning off. He gulped loudly, turning to his right and spoke into the phone quietly. It was almost a whisper, but Mark managed to hear it.

"I love you".

A chuckle, a pause, a sigh.

"I love you too."

A snore.


End file.
